The Transfer
by Disturbed Gwendolyn
Summary: Janeway transfers an Ensign to work with Seven in Astrometrics. Seven becomes confused when the Ensigns sexuality is revealed and starts to gradually re-evaluate her relationship with the Captain. J/7 femslash.
1. Ensign Green

**Disclaimer 1#-** I do not own these characters. They are the property of Paramount. I am simply borrowing them.

**Disclaimer 2#-** This story is set roughly around season 6.

**Disclaimer 3#- **I made Ensign Green and "the hot red head from engineering" (that appears in Chapter 2) up completely and they are not based on anyone at all. Any resemblence is purely coincidencial.

* * *

Ensign Lara Green was a small, slender woman with long brunette hair and emerald green eyes that matched her uniform perfectly. Her hair, as per Starfleet regulations, was tied back out of the way in an ornate plait, and her eyes were shinning with pride as she listened to the Captain speak. At only 29 her Starfleet career so far had been limited. She had been assigned to Voyager straight out of the Academy and so far her only role had been operating the transporter rooms and when they weren't in use, maintaining them. This was a promotion in comparison.

"So Ensign, how does that sound?" the Captain asked, studying the young woman intently from behind her ready room desk. She had made the right decision, this woman had a good work ethic and never put a foot out of line. In the past 5 years there had never been any report of a disciplinary incident and she appeared to get along with everyone.

"Great, Captain. It's a wonderful opportunity. Thank you." She smiled, unable to keep a straight face; she was just too excited.

"You're welcome Ensign Green. Now im sure you want to rest before your duty shift begins at 20:00. Dismissed…. and Ensign…..", the young woman turned back to the Captain, "Good Luck." She said smiling. **You're going to need it.** The Captain watched as she left the ready room, feeling herself warm to her. She couldn't fathom why both her and Chakotay had overlooked such a nice, enthusiastic officer. Why had she been stuck in the transporter rooms for 6 years?

"Computer, time?"

"The time is 19:03." The Captain groaned. Fifty-seven minutes, to write up the transfer report and prepare Seven for her new workmate. Transferring Lara to Astrometrics was bound to have repercussions, as Seven was sure to take it the wrong way. Sighing she pulled the padd towards her, she knew she was taking the cowardly option of delaying telling the feisty Borg as long as possible but sometimes you had to have a break from the stress of being a Captain. **Right, you tell yourself that if you have to but we both know you hate arguing with Seven and that's the only reason you want to delay it. **She shook her head, telling herself to shut up and started on the report.

* * *

Ensign Green arrived at Astrometrics a little early, wanting to make a good impression on her new senior officer. As the doors hissed open and she entered the room, she quickly spotted Seven, standing in front of her console, her back to the Ensign. Her breath caught as her eyes roamed over Seven's body. Seven wearing a skin-tight blue biosuit, that Lara quickly decided she wanted to see more of, and her hair clipped back in its usual style turned to face the young Ensign.

"Can I help you Ensign?" she asked with a hint of impatience.

"I..um..er..am reporting for du-duty." She managed to stammer out of the knots in her tongue, wishing she didn't sound like such a loser. She mentally kicked herself, now Seven would think she was a complete idiot. **Well done Lara, way to go.** Seven gazed at her thoughtfully, thinking the Ensign was quite clearly mistaken. She was quite capable of running Astrometrics by herself and the Captain knew this. She wouldn't have assigned someone to her. Ensign Green started to fiddle nervously with her uniform, an action that caught Sevens eye. The Borg noticed that her pupils were dilated, her palms were sweaty and her body temperature had risen by 0.5 degrees.

These were definitely human signs of attraction but the Doctor had failed to mention the possibility of same-sex attraction. Disregarding the data as anomalous, she turned back to her work.

"I believe you are mistaken Ensign. The Captain would surely have informed me, should you have been transferred." She stated, over her shoulder.

"No. With all due respect Seven, I'm certainly not mistaken. I was transferred earlier today." Seven stared at her coldly and the Ensign retreated a few steps.

"Very well, Ensign. Please excuse me." Seven brushed past her and strode angrily out of the room. Ensign Green watched her go, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe working with the blonde bombshell wasn't going to be as good as previously hoped.

* * *

The Captain took a long sip of coffee and glanced at the time on her padd. 20:12. Good, her shift finished in 50 minutes and she could join Chakotay for dinner on the holodeck. The door chimed, causing her to start suddenly.

"Come." She said, setting her coffee down. Seven walked in, a look of simmering rage covering her face. **Oh God. I didn't tell Seven about Lara Green.** The Captain remembered suddenly, her previous desire to avoid telling Seven didn't seem such a good thing to listen to anymore.

"Captain," the Borg began vehemently, "I was not informed of Ensign Greens new placement. Why?"

"Seven, take a seat." She replied motioning to the bench under the window.

"I prefer to stand"

"Of course you do. Right Seven, I am the Captain. I am your Captain. I do not have to explain myself to you. Ensign Green is assigned to Astrometrics now, and that is where she is staying." Her firm Captains persona was snapped firmly back in place.

"Is the work I produce, in some way inadequate?" asked Seven, angry that her privacy had been invaded. Astrometrics was her area, now she had to put up with that idiot Ensign Green, in her space. The Captain placed her hand on Sevens arm, trying to comfort the over-reacting Borg.

"No Seven, look you are an excellent crewmember, the work you produce is always exemplary. Ensign Greens placement has nothing to do with you at all. She was wasted in the transporter rooms. Im sure you will get along with her just fine. She wont get in your way." The Captain stood and ushered Seven out of the door, without a word she left the ready room, her quick walk informing the Captain that the matter was not over. Janeway sighed softly, making Seven a member of her crew was extremely challenging at times. Despite having the body of a woman, **an extremely attractive woman** she reminded herself**,** Seven often behaved like a child. She hoped that Ensign Green wouldn't take Seven's behaviour to heart. She wearily sat back down and pulled another padd towards her. At least she had to holodeck to look forward to.


	2. Crewman Ellis

Seven looked around her in disgust. She could not understand how humans could cope with such disorder. It had been a week since Ensign Green had started working in Astrometrics and Seven had watched it become more and more messy. There were stacks of Padd's everywhere, scattered around the room. She bent down to tidy a pile of pads at the base of the console, so she was partly hidden from view of the doorway.

As she was tidying, the doors opened and Ensign Green entered with another woman, a voluptuous red head whom Seven thought she recognised from the engineering staff. She was about to stand up and demand Ensign Green help with the tidying, when the red head spoke.

"The busty blonde Borg isn't here then?" she asked as her hands slid around Ensign Greens waist.

"She must be in a senior staff meeting or something." She whispered biting her lovers' neck softly.

"Shame, I wanted to see if she is as gorgeous as you say." She said giggling slightly.

"Oh believe me Sandra she is." said Lara, a slight red tinge diffusing over her face, she rested her hands on her girlfriends shoulders. The engineering crewman scrutinized her closely.

"I don't have anything to worry about do i?"

"No, you know I love you, and besides she isn't a lesbian. Come here darling, you are the only one for me." She pulled her lover close and kissed her gently. Seven looked on in amazement as the kiss deepened, fingers caressing necks, faces, shoulders as tongues duelled passionately. Seven could not comprehend the situation. Ensign Green was kissing another woman, everything she had been taught by the Doctor had revolved around heterosexual relationships. Yet here in front of her eyes were two women clearly embarking on a homosexual relationship. How could that exist? Was it normal? If it was wouldn't she have seen it before? Was this against Starfleet protocol?

Her attention was drawn back to the lovers when Crewman Ellis let out a soft deep moan. Ensign Green was cupping her breasts and her back had arched. Her head was leaning back, exposing an elegant neck, which the young Ensign promptly kissed.

"Oh Lara…." The red head groaned eagerly with an underlying hint of disappointment. "Now I have to wait until tonight to get your hands on me again. Ensign Green smiled and touched her lips against her forehead.

"Well I'm sure you'll manage" she said suggestively rubbing Sandra's breast.

"Barely…" The crewman straightened her uniform and left Astrometrics. Ensign Green watched her go an amused expression on her face. An expression which quickly turned to panic when Seven emerged from behind the console. In her mind her Starfleet career was over, she had dreamed of making Lieutenant one day, now her nightmare of going back to the transporter rooms was going to become a reality. She felt like crying. She had always been so careful. No public displays of affection, going on a few dates with male crew members. All that was ruined by a moments indiscretion.

"Ensign, firstly I would prefer it if you could tidy up as you work rather than leaving it to me. I find it is more efficient to work in an environment where everything is in its place than in on where disorder reigns. Also it is irritating for me when I cannot locate a padd I have been working on due to it being buried under a pile of other padds. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes," the Ensign nodded and then paused waiting for Seven to continue, when she didn't the Ensign took the initiative. "And secondly….you said firstly, I assume there is a secondly." Seven arched an eyebrow.

"Indeed. Secondly you just kissed a female member of crew. Why?" The Ensign was momentarily taken aback. She had expected to be ridiculed, even dismissed from her duty shift but she had not expected Seven to be curious. Then she remembered Seven was still learning about humanity and briefly considered making up an elaborate story about how sometimes best friends kissed like that, but found she couldn't deliberately mislead her senior officer just to save her own skin, even if she was a former Borg Drone. She took a deep breath.

"I love her, Seven. We have been dating for a few months, I kissed her to express my love for her."

"Is it normal to love a member of the same sex?" inquired Seven with an arched eyebrow.

"No, well yes….no not really." The Ensign spluttered, getting flustered, "It depends on each individual. Most people are attracted to the opposite sex but some like me are attracted to their own sex."

"How do you know if you are attracted to women?" Seven was puzzled, humanity seemed very complcated.

"You just do Seven I can't really describe it. You meet a special girl, one you really fall for and you find yourself wanting to be around her all the time. You long for her touch, want to feel her against you, kissing you." Ensign Greens eyes came alive as she described her feelings for Crewman Ellis, shinning brightly with desire.

"How do you know you want those things?" Seven thought that sounded wonderful. An image of the Captain flickered across her mind and she froze unable to explain why.

"I…I don't know. You just do." She repeated lamely, knowing Seven didn't understand. The young Borg seemed to think for a second before abruptly turning to her console, starting today's work. Ensign Green took that as meaning the matter was dropped. She was unsure whether Seven would tell anyone as the Borg's reaction had been neither positive nor negative. Deciding that she would probably be ok, as the only person Seven spoke to was Captain Janeway, she got on with her work, oblivious to the occasional curious look from Seven. The Ex-Drone sighed softly, wanting to know the answer to why the Captains face had appeared when sexual thoughts entered her head. She would ask her at their weekly Velocity game.

* * *

The Captain was 7.3 minutes late for their weekly Velocity match; Seven was starting to believe that she had forgotten about it and she urgently needed to talk to her about the Lara situation. Seven shivered, her Velocity clothes were not thermo-regulated like her biosuit, and it was a little chilly in the corridor outside the holodeck. She glanced down at her attire, black trousers, black top, sneakers her usual clothing so why was she cold now?

"Cold, Seven?" A warm voice, filled with concern asked, looking up she saw it was her Captain.

"Yes Captain, yet I do not know why." The Captain gave her a quick hug and then rubbed her arms, trying to warm Seven up. Seven felt heat burn through her, like the nerve endings in her arms were on fire. Startled by her bodies reaction she stepped back out of reach, braking the contact, yet she could still feel the Captain's hands moving over her skin.

"Seven, what's the matter? Did I hurt you?" the alarmed Captain asked, resisting the urge to touch Seven again.

"No. It was nothing Captain." The Borg dismissed it with a careless wave of her hand, eyes avoiding locking with the Captains deep blue ones. Janeway bit her bottom lip to keep herself from saying something, clearly Seven was embarrassed and wanted to drop the subject. **But why would she be embarrassed?** The Captain cleared her throat loudly.

"Shall we proceed then, Seven?" Without waiting for an answer, the Captain entered the holodeck. Seven followed, her gaze drawn inexplicably to Janeways retreating backside. She admired its shape, the lovely curves and imagined running her fingers over them, around her hips and then up, up to cup magnificent breasts and to hear the Captain moan in delight, screaming out her name and….

Panic rose up inside of her as the mental images bombarded her. She felt her body temperature rise and her face flush. Surely the Captain would be able to tell something was happening to her. **Do something.**

"Captain I wish to speak with you" she spoke quickly, the words tumbling out of her mouth. "It is a matter regarding Ensign Green." The Captain stopped and turned to face Seven, a spark of anger igniting her azure eyes.

"Seven. She is staying put. You don't have to like her you just have to work with her and if –"

"She kissed Crewman Ellis and I require clarification about the situation." The Captains jaw dropped at Seven's interruption. **Crewman Ellis….Crewman Ellis is most definitely a ****female**** member of the Engineering team. That means that Seven has just seen her first lesbian experience and now Seven will be confused and will want you to explain lesbianism to her. Great. **Janeway couldn't help admiring the universes sense of humour. It seemed to have a vendetta against her. Firstly, by placing Seven on her ship to tempt her out of her Captains celibacy, then secondly by exposing Seven to homosexuality and making the woman who haboured a paralysing crush on the crush on the young blonde, explain it to her. She swallowed.

"Seven what exactly do you want me to clarify?" she breathed slowly, fighting the blush creeping up her neck.

"Why does this occur? It seems highly inefficient as it can produce no offspring." Seven tilted her head to one side ready to analyse Janeways response.

"It's just love Seven and sometimes having children isn't important. It happens, you can't help who you fall for" **Ain't that the truth, **her mind piped up. She ran a hand through her auburn hair and a strand fell from her clip to rest on her cheek. Seven watched, desperately wanting to repeat the action with her own hand. Ignoring the urge, she pressed on.

"Is everyone a homosexual sometimes then?"

"What?" the Captain shrieked, losing her calm manner. "No. It's just random. Some people are some people aren't." Janeway couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Seven, it was so embarrassing.

"I see. Are you, Captain?" Janeway blushed and shifted slightly underfoot. Knowing she couldn't tell Seven the truth, she reluctantly settled for a lie.

"No Seven, but I also have nothing against it and believe everyone has the right to experience true love, with whomever they choose."

"Is lesbianism contagious?" Seven asked hoping that her recent thoughts about the Captain were symptoms of a virus.

"What? No! It's not contagious you are born like that." Janeway resisted the urge to laugh and wished she had a better poker face.

"Oh." Said Seven crestfallen. **Maybe you should do further research, to determine the source of your feelings toward the Captain.**

"Why Seven? Think you might be a lesbian?" the Captain joked trying to recover from her own embarrassment, but only succeeding in making it worse when Sevens only only response was a quiet maybe. **Oh God. She might be a lesbian. She might be a lesbian and you just told her you weren't. What the hell are you doing? Damn you, Universe!** She coughed and started the velocity programme, planning to take both their minds off it with a quick game.

All through the game their eyes kept meeting then flickering away only to return again. Janeway dismissed it thinking Seven was only considering lesbianism because it was a new thing she had been exposed to, and was curious. As they parted ways after the Captain had won yet again, she couldn't help imagining what it would be like to date Seven. She thought the tall strong woman would definitely be good in bed, although perhaps not so good at the emotional side. A smile played with her facial muscles as she watched Seven walk away. **She has a really great ass.**

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Authors Note:- sorry it has taken me a while to update. Also i would like some help deciding what to write my next fanfic about. (dont worry this one isn't finishing here im aiming for 10 chapters-ish) I was thinking of giving Seven and Janeway a break and possibly doing a DS9/Voyager crossover so basically a Jadzia/Janeway or Jadzia/Seven. But i also want to do a Babylon 5 Susan/Talia thing or an Andromeda Beka/Rommie thing. If you could please review and let me know what you think at the same time that would be great. Thank you. x Sarah Jane


	3. Sandrines

Seven of Nine was in the mess hall eating nutritional supplement beta-3. Her shift had just ended and she had required nourishment before commencing her regeneration cycle. Ensign Green had been working in Astrometrics for 2.4 weeks and she had to admit that working with her hadn't been a terrible experience. Lara was pleasant, intelligent, hardworking and after Sevens initial shock of finding out about lesbianism they had developed what could be considered by Seven's standards a good friendship.

As she ate her thoughts turned to Captain Janeway. They hadn't spoken much since the velocity game, their only contact being at the senior staff meetings, but Seven didn't mind because it had given her a chance to think. Musing upon it further had led her to the conclusion that her feelings for the Captain were most probably just the result of the sudden exposure to homosexuality. A symptom of what she had heard the crew refer to as shock.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a shadow falling across the table. She looked up to see a dishevelled looking Ensign Green standing over her. Her brunette hair fell in loose messy curls around her face and her eyes were puffy and red. Two thick lines of coal-coloured goo were running down her cheeks, as her mascara had mingled with her tears.

"Ensign Green. Would you like to sit down?" Seven inquired not knowing what to do in these situations.

"Thank you Seven." She sniffed miserably, as she slid into the seat opposite the Ex-Drone.

"Do you require a tissue, or a liquid refreshment Ensign?"

"No, no….just a friendly face." She smiled weakly.

"Where would one go about getting a friendly face?" the Borg made a move to leave her seat, intending to get whatever the Ensign needed to make her feel better. Lara reached over and patted Seven's hand preventing the Borg from standing.

"Im talking about your face, silly. We're friends aren't we? And besides I need someone to drown my sorrows with, even if it is over a nutritional supplement. Seven, why don't you try something other than one of those supplements? There are loads of other things available."

"I do not require any other source of food. The nutritional supplements are quite sufficient for my needs," Sevens face took on a thoughtful expression as she analysed what had just been said, "Why do you want to drown your sorrows? Would it not be more efficient simply to stop feeling upset." Ensign Green laughed, her features smoothing as the sadness started to retreat.

"See I knew you would cheer me up. You're a gem," the previously retreating sadness returned and her eyes grew misty as her thoughts turned to Sandra. She leaned close to the young blonde and dropped her voice to a whisper, "seriously, though Seven you are the only person who knows about my relationship with Sandra and now that we have broken up I had to talk to someone and you, well you…." She broke down into fast-falling tears and started sobbing quietly. Her small frame twitched with each strangled breath and her shaking hands attempted to stop the flow. Seven shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to proceed; she had not had much experience at consoling upset individuals and did not know what Ensign Green expected her to do. Luckily, Lara looked up and noticed her discomfort.

"I'm sorry Seven. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm in the weepy stage. I just don't understand what went wrong; I thought we were happy. But hey, I need to move on, get into the drunk stage fast." She sighed softly, and looked at the woman sitting across from her. She wondered if Seven would ever experience the pain she was going through. She shook her head gently, deciding the Ex-Drone probably didn't have the capacity to understand love. She sighed again.

"So, how about it Seven? Come out with me tonight. We'll go to a bar on the holodeck, but I'll make sure there is real booze and we'll get smashed, I'll sob over Sandra and we'll find something for you to cry about, so I don't feel alone in my pain."

"I do not wish to cry Ensign, but I will help you cure your sadness; the efficiency of Astrometrics depends on it." Seven's lips curled into a wry smile. Enisgn Green giggled in surprise, a joke? Seven had made a joke? Maybe there was a fun side to the Borg just waiting to be uncovered. Every cloud has a silver lining after all.

"Great, I'll pick you up from cargo bay 2 in an hour. Wear casual clothes, it's better to get drunk in comfy clothes." She reached over and gave Seven a brief hug, surprised about how good the blonde felt in her arms. She shook herself mentally, as she pulled away. Seven was off limits. She went to get changed, leaving behind a very confused Seven.

"Casual clothes?" muttered Seven. It seemed further research was necessary.

* * *

The hour passed quickly, much to Ensign Greens approval. She was wearing dark blue jeans, with a white blouse, her long dark her loose around her shoulders. Approaching cargo bay 2 her mind wondered firstly, if Seven had understood the principle of casual clothing and secondly what Seven would be wearing. The Borgs body was admired by many members of the crew both male and female and the Ensign was no less affected by Seven's beauty than the rest of them. Her relationship with Sandra had stopped most of these thoughts about her colleague but now these restrictions were no longer in place…**Stop it**, she chastised herself hurriedly, **get drunk, forget Sandra and leave Seven alone. **She resolved to stick to this line of thinking.

She entered the cargo bay and her resolve crumbled instantly. The Ex-Drone was wearing tight fitting jeans that complemented her long shapely legs wonderfully in Lara's opinion. Also the curves of her chest were enhanced somewhat by a snug scarlet long sleeved top. Ensign Green let out an inaudible gasp. **Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. **She was about to tell Seven she would like to take a rain check when she looked up from her console and met the Ensigns gaze. She smiled warmly, truly glad to see Lara. The Ensign returned the smile, ignoring the quickening of her heartbeat.

"Ensign, shall we proceed to the holodeck?" Seven asked, looking forward to the evening ahead.

"Um….yes. Tom Paris and Harry Kim are running the Sandrine's program. I thought we could go there but we don't have to sit with them if you'd prefer." She found herself wishing Seven wouldn't want to join the two men. She tried to convince herself it was because she didn't want everyone to know about Sandra but really she knew it was because she wanted the gorgeously dressed Borg all to herself. Seven considered her options and decided she would much rather sit with Lara alone. Since the conversation about lesbianism with Captain Janeway had been abrupt, she wanted the opportunity to ask Lara more questions.

"I would prefer to sit with you alone Ensign. I have further matters to discuss with you." Ensign Green couldn't stop the flood of joy that surged through her at Sevens words, now she would get to spend more time with Seven and discover the human underneath the implants. The two women walked in companionable silence to the holodeck, both strangely excited about the forthcoming evening.

* * *

"Harry, Harry, Harry, Sandrine's table tilts slightly to the East, remember? You have to take this into account or you will never beat me at this game." said Lieutenant Tom Paris mock-disappointingly, shaking his head as he spoke, his mischievous school boy grin plastered over his face.

"Sorry Tom I guess snooker isn't really my game" replied the Operations Officer good naturedly, as Tom took his shot, which he promptly misfired due to Harry's comment. He folded his arms and acted indignant while fake-pouting.

"How many times Harry? This is pool. We are playing Pool, we aren't British." Satisfied that he had won no matter if they continued the game or not, he clapped Harry on the back and motioned towards the bar. "Come on lets get drinks, maybe a little synthol will improve your game."

They sat at the bar and chatted about the forthcoming party. Neelix, as morale officer had decided that despite Chakotays wishes for a simple gathering, he was going to throw a huge party in the mess hall in honour of the First Officers birthday. Suddenly stopped discussing what weird and wonderful concoctions Neelix was going to serve and grabbed Tom excitedly, pointing towards the doorway, through which Ensign Green and Seven of Nine had just entered.

"Look Tom, it's Seven and she is wearing casual clothes. Doesn't she look great?" he said in amazement as his face flushed. The Lieutenant watched as Seven and Lara promptly took a seat at one of the smooth wooden table around the edge of the room. He turned his amused face back towards Harry and chuckled.

"Harry when are you going to realise that you are never going to be with her? I mean Ensign Green probably has a better chance than you. You just aren't her type."

"Oh yeah?" said Harry defensively, privately thinking he was the perfect candidate for Seven.

"Relax Harry, it's not necessarily a bad thing. You just appeal to a different sort of woman. I just think Seven's type will be someone who is more of an authority figure. You know a leader, also older, more experienced due to her insatiable thirst for knowledge. She couldn't learn anything from you, and besides my money is on Chakotay." Stated Tom matter-of-factly.

"Why Chakotay?" Harry asked, deliberately trying to sound nonchalant.

"Tough, strong, dependable yet sensitive, caring and understanding. He knows how to lead people, trust me Harry he is Seven's type. However dominant she appears to be I think when it comes to relationship she wants the other to be the more dominant person due to her lack of relationship experience." He sipped his drink while looking at the Ex-Drone. Harry was having non of it.

"Well I personally think that there are many crewmembers who possess those qualities." He knew he was digging himself into a whole but somehow he couldn't stop himself, where Seven was concerned he didn't mind how stupid he looked as long as it wasn't in front of her. Now it was Toms turn to be defensive.

"Oh yeah, like who besides Captain Janeway?" Tom's eyes twinkled and they both laughed, the tension disappearing at the idea of Seven and the Captain. The notion of them being together was indeed absurd.

* * *

Ensign Green downed yet another cointreau and lemonade, her 7th of the evening and she felt the buzz in her brain grow slightly stronger. She decided she was most definitely on her way to being drunk as the cool liquid, entered her bloodstream, relaxing her completely. Seven on the other hand was no more tipsy than when she started, having consumed only 2.45 glasses of water. The Borg had resigned herself to the fact that she was not going to be able to ask Ensign Green any further questions about lesbianism, while she was in her current intoxicated state. While sober the Ensign had only wished to talk about anything but Sandra and had instead focused the conversation on Chakotay's birthday party.

"Ensign I believe the levels of alcohol in your body have reached dangerous levels which may result in permanent liver damage. I recommend that you cease consuming this beverage and go back to your quarters to rest." A hint of concern had crept into her voice as she had detected how drunk Lara really was.

"I agree Seven," she started boisterously, "I think I have had quite enough. Sandra is a distant memory." Her arms flailed expressively as the slurred words tumbled from her mouth. She made to stand but faltered as the holodeck spun before her eyes. A strong Borg enhanced hand reached out to steady her.

"Here Ensign, let me assist you." Seven put one arm around Lara's petite waist and helped her to stand. They left the holodeck and slowly made their way to Ensign Greens quarters. When the arrived outside her quarters, Lara shifted he weight from Seven to the door frame. Her emerald eyes met Sevens sapphire ones and she smiled.

"Thank you for walking me home Seven," she said sincerely, "I feel like I owe you something for the trouble." Her gaze dropped to Sevens full lips and a hand reached out, the thumb running over the source of her attention. Sevens lips were soft and smooth, she felt the blonde shiver beneath her fingertips. The Ensigns touch was a curious new sensation to her, it felt strangely sensual and she found she didn't want it to stop.

"You owe me nothing Ensign. I was simply acting in a responsible manner." She whispered scared to move in case the contact was broken. Seven shivered again as Lara's other hand moved to carefully caress the starburst implant on her right cheek, before moving round to the base of Sevens neck. Lara gently pressed, pulling Seven closer to her waiting mouth. Her lips lightly touched Seven's at first, then pressed more firmly as Seven responded, her mouth opening, granting the Ensigns tongue access. The Ex-Drone felt overwhelmed, her cortical node was trying and failing to process all the new information. Ensign Greens body was flush against her own and her mouth, delightfully warm and wet, was adding to the pleasurable sensations.

Seven gasped as the tip of Lara's tongue touched her own, she answered by thrusting her own tongue deep into Lara's mouth. They stood together like that, mouths duelling, hands tentatively exploring shoulders, necks, faces for several minutes until both their lungs burned, desperate for oxygen. Breathing deeply, Seven found she wanted to kiss the Ensign again. A flame of desire had been awakened inside of her and now it burned brightly, overpowering her thought processes. They kissed again, slowly and lingeringly before Lara pulled away.

"I should probably get some rest. I can feel a major hangover coming on." She laughed lightly, her hand holding Sevens. The Borg bade her goodnight and left. The Ensign entered the darkness of her quarters not quite believing what had just happened. She slid into bed not bothering to undress and contemplated the events. She felt guilt settle into her stomach. Seven was just coming to grips with humanity. Had she just taken advantage of that? She groaned loudly, **what have I done?**

* * *

**Authors Note:- sorry it has taken me a while to update. The next chapter should be shorter so should be posted quicker, i have already started it so shouldn't be too long. Please review and let me know what you think so far. Thanks. xSarahjanex**


	4. Janeways Blessing

**Disclaimer :- Forgot to mention this earlier. I do not really like the way Janeway's hair was in Season 6 so when I use Janeways character I am picturing her hair like it was at the end of season 3. Longer and tied back with a clip of some sort.**

* * *

Seven's fingers moved swiftly over her console as she entered data concerning astrometrical scans into the computer. Voyager was currently exploring a 7 planet system. Scans of the 5th planet had revealed large quantities of dilithium crystals, not knowing when they would get another chance they had stopped to stockpile the much needed resource. The doors hissed open and she felt a familiar presence wash over her. She was by now used to this strange routine of the Captains but she still didn't fully understand why the Captain felt the urge to watch her work at random intervals.

"Good afternoon Captain." She welcomed the older woman in her usual manner, with a slight incline of her head. Janeway stepped closer and stood next to Seven, placing her left arm casually round the taller woman, her hand resting on Seven's left bicep. She was surprised when she felt the Ex-Borg relax into her loose hold, normally she remained stiff and unyielding, oblivious to the Captains affections. **Something has changed**, she told herself, whilst hoping it had changed in her favour.

"Good afternoon Seven. How are you doing?" she inquired, curious to find the source of the younger woman now being comfortable with physical touch.

"I have almost finished entering the new data into the computer Captain" The Captain removed her arm and gently turned Seven so they were face to face, her deep blue eyes searching equally blue ones for clues as to why something was different about the blonde. Not finding any immediately, she decided a more direct approach would be best.

"That's excellent Seven but I that's not what I was asking. I want to know how you are feeling. Is there anything you want to talk about because you know I am always here for you, should you need me?" She scrutinised the Astrometrics Officer closely, her gut instinct telling her something was on Seven's mind. The Borg stiffened visibly, reaffirming Janeways belief. If she didn't know Seven so well she would have thought she was nervous about something.

"I am functioning at normal levels, Captain." Came the abrupt reply. Getting personal details out of Seven was harder than getting blood out of a stone, Janeway decided exasperatedly.

"Right ok Seven. I'll…leave you to it then." she said reluctantly giving up for the time being. She turned to go, but was stopped by a firm hand on her wrist. She looked at Seven. The womans eyes made her look like a lost little girl and the Captain felt her heart want to reach out and hold her tightly. She dropped her voice to a low whisper, placing her hand on Sevens as she spoke.

"What is it Seven?" she asked, longing to hold her in her arms. She watched as the Borg faltered, seemingly at a loss for words. She squeezed Sevens hand gently, resisting the desire to bring it to her lips.

"I am unsure how to proceed Captain, it is difficult to explain." The Ex-Drone's brow furrowed in confusion, she was suddenly aware of the warm pressure of the Captains hand on her own and the way the sensation seemed to move over her entire body, gently caressing her skin. The feeling was much like the one she had experienced when Ensign Green had kissed her but now it was more potent. She considered briefly the idea of pulling the Captain into a kiss but remembered what the Captain had once said about being unable to cross certain lines. She of course had been referring to Chakotay but Seven believed the principle would still apply to her, besides the Captain herself had said she was not a lesbian.

"I experienced human sexuality last night, and now I feel most peculiar." She said desperate for the older woman to offer her insight and fix the social situation for her. The air in the Captains lungs escaped in the form of a small gasp, her mouth remained open as she tried to speak, but she found her vocal chords were currently unable to process language.** Sex? Seven had Sex? This can not be happening to me, I refuse to believe it. Why does the universe hate me so? **The pain of losing Seven despite not actually ever having her, was almost too much for the normally calm Captain to handle. Her erratic thoughts calmed as she entertained the notion that Seven may not have liked it and was asking advice on how to inform the other person.

"Why do you feel peculiar, Seven?" she asked upon managing to gain enough composure.

Seven sensing the Captains hesitancy about the matter answered slowly. She needed the Captain to tell her what to do, to give her insight and most importantly her blessing about the entire situation. She valued the Captains opinion more highly than anything in the Universe and would do anything to please her.

"The other person was extremely intoxicated for the duration of the incident and I am nervous that now they regret it. During my research into such encounters it seems humans perform activities that they do not wish to whilst under the influence of alcohol. Applying this theory to my situation results in the possibility of Ensign Green not actually wanting to kiss me and therefore she is probably wanting to forget the incident occurred." The older woman squeezed the metal covered hand that rested lightly in hers soothingly and sighed. She knew that sometimes Seven misunderstood humanity and she could end up being accidentally hurt by Ensign Green if she, as Captain, let this situation develop.

"Well, first things first Seven. Did you give your consent?"

"Ensign Green did not ask my permission before she kissed me. Should she have?" The thought of Ensign Greens lips on Sevens caused anger and a hint of jealousy to bubble inside of Janeway's veins. Seven was hers, her project, her crush. She didn't appreciate anyone else's hands on her. She knew that she was being irrational, but she couldn't help feeling this way. For two years she had been in love with Seven, she just couldn't let this go. **Calm down Katie. It was just a kiss, Seven might not have liked it anyway.** She felt her Captains voice try to reason with the jealousy inside of her. She took a deep breath, mentally steadying herself.

"No. She didn't have to ask. If you wanted to kiss her too then it was acceptable. Did you want to?" she asked dreading the answer she knew was coming. **Why would Seven be nervous if she didn't like it?**

"It is curious, Captain, I had not really considered human sexuality before. I previously deemed it irrelevant but now I find that I wish to spend more time with Ensign Green and I believe I would like to form a relationship with her. I have been given an opportunity to further explore my humanity and I would not want to waste it." The Captains heart sank, would Seven now be hers if she had beaten Ensign Green to it and kissed the Ex-Drone first? She felt a new wave of jealousy rise up against Ensign Green. Sometimes she wished she wasn't in command and she was just a mere Ensign again, free to have relationships with whomever she should choose.

"Just make sure you don't get hurt Seven."

"I doubt Lara has sufficient strength to inflict serious damage upon my person. If she were to try such a manoeuvre, her attempt would be futile." Janeway couldn't stop the small smile that appeared at Sevens words. Although Seven had the intellect of the entire Borg Collective stored in her brain, she was still very naïve in the Captains view when it came to matters of a personal nature.

"No seven, that isn't quite what I meant. When two people embark on a relationship, it creates a powerful entity and when that relationship ends, for whatever reason, it can cause severe pain to the individuals involved. Emotional wounds cannot be healed by the Doctor, despite his advanced programming. If you do decide to have a relationship with Ensign Green, you need to make sure she wants the same out of it as you do." The Captain said sincerely, protective of Seven even if it was over the matter of her dating someone else. Delighted at the Captains apparent approval Seven wrapped her arms around the older woman, gripping her in a fierce hug.

"Thank you for the advice Captain. I will ask Ensign Green if she would like to become involved in a relationship with me at 22:00." She released the smaller woman and turned back to her work. Smiling sadly the older woman left astrometrics as her flesh, that a second ago had been warmed by Sevens wonderful body, was overcome by an oozing cold that finally settled in her dark heart. The single light, extinguished by a petite, brunette junior officer with emerald eyes. "And this Katie," she muttered to herself as the doors to Astrometrics closed behind her, "is why a Captain must distance herself from her crew. You just get hurt when you fall in love with one of them." She walked to Engineering, already late for an appointment with Lieutenant Torres concerning warp core efficiency, trying desperately not to think of Seven with Lara.


	5. An Invitation

Using a hydroshower in the dark was proving to be more complicated than she had previously thought. Nursing the mother of all hangovers, Ensign Green had awoken to find that she was temporarily intolerant to light. Deciding not to risk the sonic shower in case ultrasonic waves had a similar effect to light waves, she had been prepared to get ready for her duty shift in the dark as she thought it would be preferable to even low light levels. She was now reconsidering after pouring shampoo into her eyes for the second time, causing them to burn angrily. Shutting off the shower, she clawed blindly for her towel, seeking its fuzzy warmth.

As she dried herself and pulled on her blue/green uniform her thoughts turned to Seven and the previous night. Kissing Seven had been wonderful but she still couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt that plagued her. Luckily she didn't have to deal with Seven for a while because her duty shift in Astrometrics began in 4 hours at 22:00 and Seven's she knew finished at 21:00. This meant she was most likely to see Seven next at Chakotay's birthday party tomorrow evening. **Although, **the Ensign reminded herself, **she isn't the most social creature in existence and may not even be intending to turn up.** Her disposition now more sunny at this realisation, she braved the light of the corridors for a much needed trip to the mess hall.

* * *

"Computer, state the time" Seven ordered, her fingers pausing, hovering over the console.

"The time is 21:02." Her duty shift over, she logged out of the terminal. Lara's shift, she knew didn't start until 22:00, although normally patient, the young Blonde found she was inexplicably excited about talking to Lara and couldn't bear to wait for 58 minutes.

"Computer locate Ensign Green"

"Ensign Green is in the mess hall" The robotic voice answered. Seven smiled and left Astrometrics hurriedly, heading to the mess hall.

* * *

Ensign Green didn't think it was possible for her to hate Neelix any more than she did at that moment. The annoyingly loud and cheerful Talaxian was standing over her as she drank her coffee, telling her in an excited high pitched squeak all about what he had planned for Chakotays party. She really couldn't have cared less how many types of cake there were going to be and she wished he would just shut up and go away. **Come on, please anyone help me, someone come sit with me, please and save me from his incessant ramblings.** She thought silently, whilst wondering how long it was till her duty shift.

"Lara may I sit with you?" a calm, precise voice asked from behind her. **No, anyone but her.** **Anyone but her. **Turning, she found herself looking up at six feet of gorgeous Borg. She reluctantly motioned to the seat next to her; now was as good a time as any.

"Of course Seven, take a seat. Neelix would you mind leaving us alone so we can talk?"

"Not at all. Not at all." He clapped her on the back and waddled over to Tuvok who was sitting in a corner playing kal-toh, "Ahh Mr Vulcan…"

"A most annoying species." Seven stated as she slid gracefully into her seat, eliciting a smile from the young Ensign.

"I agree…", she paused briefly, not sure how to continue, her hands came to rest flat on the table, "Look Seven, we need to talk about last night. I would like to apologise for my behaviour. I was drunk and I wasn't thinking clearly. The thing is, I'd like to think we have become friends over the past few weeks and I don't want to damage that over such an insignificant-". Seven watched as Lara babbled, skirting around the true subject. She would never understand why humans wanted to engage in such an inefficient means of communication, unable to stand the delay any longer she interrupted.

"Lara am I to assume that you regret kissing me and do not wish to do so again? You would like the nature of our affiliation to remain at the level of friendship?" Seven asked simply, sounding a lot more nonchalant than she felt. She had hoped the Ensign would return her feelings and had been so pre-occupied with the idea of experiencing a romantic relationship that she had forgotten that Lara had to agree first. Her eyes rested on Lara's awaiting an answer. She saw something fall away behind the pretty emerald pools and was surprised by the sudden unveiling of…..desire? Lara's eyes shone with a longing and a hunger that seemed strangely familiar to her. She had been on the receiving end of one of those looks before…but from whom? Her eidetic memory, it seemed was failing her, as her mind struggled to produce the answer.

"Seven….?" She felt warm fingers intertwine with her own bringing her thoughts back to the mess hall. "Seven, I….I would like very much to kiss you again, if that's ok with you?" A shy blush crept over Lara's face; she was not used to being so forward when sober. Without waiting for an answer she leaned in towards Seven, her eyes sliding shut, pausing only when she felt the blonde's breath lightly whisper across her lips. God she wanted this so much. Closing the gap, she captured ruby lips in hers, gently pressing.

Seven shivered at the contact then her mouth opened, the tip of her tongue tracing Lara's lower lips shyly, before delving into her warm mouth. She tasted sweet like the strawberries she had once had the pleasure of eating with the Captain, and Seven found it hard to slow her quickening heartbeat, wanting more. The kiss deepened, tongues forcibly exploring as both women felt the table digging in, almost painfully, to their hips as their bodies sought the closeness of the other. A mesh covered hand caressed a soft cheek, before it moved to rest just above the swell of a small breast. Lara's low groan caused Seven to tear her mouth away; even she realised that copulating in the mess hall would be socially unacceptable, and at the rate both of their respiration rates were increasing, she calculated they would have been having sex in 12.8 seconds.

A wolf whistle emanated from the direction of Tom Paris causing a blush to diffuse across Sevens normally alabaster cheeks. Lara thought she looked adorable, but resisted running her fingers over the other woman's face Instead she grinned and shifted her leg so her calf rested casually against the Ex-Drones shapely one.

"Seven, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to Chakotay's Birthday party?" she asked over Sevens small gasp at their leg contact.

"An acceptable proposition. I will comply."

* * *

Tom Paris ran onto the bridge from the Turbo Lift, and then jogged to the conn, smiling to try and pacify the pair of annoyed faces glaring at him from the command chairs.

"Sorry I'm late Captain. There was an interesting event occurring in the mess hall and I lost track of time." Chakotay looked at him, calm anger clearly evident.

"Tom it doesn't matter if Neelix was tap-dancing naked round the tables. Whatever happened, you have a responsibility on this ship and there is no excuse for turning up late for your duty shift. The Captain and I have put a lot of faith into you, don't make us regret that decision." The Commander stopped at the touch of a firm hand at his bicep, he looked at the Captains disapproving face and knew that this was not the time to have a rant at Tom. There were about to make first contact with the Sienn. A species that inhabited the 5th planet, where they were hoping to mine dilithium and they needed to appear friendly and calm.

"Tom, I assume that the incident does not affect the welfare of this ship and therefore does not need to be discussed further?" Janeway inquired, knowing full well they were about to be told about it anyway.

"Well Captain. I wouldn't be relying on Astrometrics for a while. I think Lara and Seven have their hands full and won't be focused on anything but each other." He turned back to his console a grin plastered over his face. The Captain bristled at his words, this was just like him.

"Tom, you're dismissed. Chakotay take the conn." The grin vanished and was replaced by anger but the Lieutenant left the bridge knowing he had been wrong to disclose what he had seen. The Captain watched him go, she wasn't really angry with him, she was angry with herself for letting Lara have Seven. But still she wasn't about to let Tom embarrass the young Borg and destroy her attempt at experiencing humanity. Sighing wearily she focussed on the viewscreen watching the stars move slowly by.

* * *

**Authors note:- Sorry about the long wait for such a short chapter, but I've got some exams coming up and have been told I really should revise for them. Anyway ill try and write chapter 6 soon and get it posted early January-ish. It should be a long chapter and I know Janeway hasn't been involved much yet but Chapter 6 is pretty much from her point of view so that should balance things up a bit. Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read this, and especially those who have been reviewing, I appreciate the feedback. Hope you are all enjoying this. xSJx**


	6. Enlightenment

She entered the mess hall, aware that she was an hour late and stealthily tried to blend in with a group of Ensigns by the buffet table, but her attempt failed as Neelix with his ever observant eyes spotted her.

"Captain!" he boomed in an extremely loud voice as he made his way over to her, pushing the Ensigns out of the way, "We were beginning to think you weren't coming". He began loading up a plate for her as he spoke, "You know I don't see you in here as much as I should. Eating right is an important part of your daily routine, here try these Captain, they are simply marvelous." He handed her the rather full plate, oblivious to the peeved expression on her face.

"Neelix I eat just fine and I'm quite capable of getting my own plate, besides I need to be able to still fit into this dress by the end of the evening". She patted her flat stomach and laughed lightly. She had spent hours choosing just the right outfit, carefully avoiding thinking about the reason she had decided to dress up. The tight black thigh length dress with knee high leather boots was designed to show off her slender form.

Before she could offer further protest, Neelix had dragged her into the middle of a group of her senior officers. Chakotay smiled at her and she noticed his eyes did their usual flick up and down her body. A small smile played with her lips; she had not worn this dress for him but it was still nice to be appreciated.

"So Kathryn, where is my present?" he asked, knowing full well she had probably forgotten.

"Well before you say anything, I haven't forgotten this time. It's just too big for me to carry to the mess hall, so I have taken the liberty of dropping off at your quarters en route."

"Im surprised Kathryn, well done for remembering." They laughed good naturedly and she took the opportunity to scan the group. Tom and B'Elanna, Tuvok, Harry, The Doctor, Neelix….but there was someone missing. She craned her neck, widening her search to the entire messhall, but she couldn't see Seven. She felt an arm at her waist and then Chakotay's voice whispered in her ear, so no-one else could hear.

"She is over there, with Ensign Green." He nodded towards a dark corner where Seven and Lara were sitting next to each other, their thighs pressed together, no air molecules between them. She watched jealously as something Lara said made Seven laugh loudly, her head thrown back as her eyes sparkled. **She can't be that funny**, she thought cattily. Immediately she felt ashamed of the thought but she was by now unable to contain the emotions raging inside of her. What had Ensign Green got that she hadn't? **Well lets see Kathryn, she is not afraid to tell Seven she loves her, she isn't stupidly upholding the most petty Starfleet protocols on dating whilst Starfleet is still 30 years away, oh and she is younger for a start. **

"She's got nothing on you" At the sound of Chakotays voice she quickly tore her gaze from Seven and her lover, to meet his concerned eyes. "Come on, we need to talk this out". He gently pulled her to an empty table, sitting her down a few tables over from Seven and Lara.

"I don't know what you mean." The Captain began adamantly. She wasn't about to start confessing her feelings for Seven. Not now, it was too painful to do that while someone else occupied her loves' mind. Realising she was still holding the plate Neelix had given her she set it down on the table, pushing it away from her, carefully avoiding the gaze of her First Officer.

"Kathryn please, don't patronise me. Do you think I don't know you well enough by now? Besides as Birthday Boy, I order you to talk to me." He smiled softly trying to coax her into understanding that he wanted to help.

"Oh? Ordering me? Well no-one informed me that we were operating a special birthday privileges system on this ship, should I suspect a mutiny?" Her mouth told of a humour that was not shared by her eyes. He tried again.

"Kathryn…." She held up a hand, giving in.

"Chakotay, alright. You win, I'll talk."

"Good. Right we both know that you have feelings for Seven and we both know how stubborn you can be, but you can't sit around and wait for her to come to you because she isn't going to do that if you leave her alone."

"And this talk is helping me how? She asked her voice dripping with a fiery sarcasm.

"Let me finish," he carried on calmly despite Janeways annoying pessimistic attitude, "she adores you Kathryn, anyone can see that. If you asked her to she would drop Ensign Green in a heartbeat and be yours. Why can't you see that? You shouldn't be wasting anymore time."

"I don't have the right to tell her to date me Chakotay. She is an individual now and she can see who she damn well pleases."

"You didn't have the right to decide to remove her from the Collective. It didn't seem to stop you back then." The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them and he instantly wanted to swallow them back up again. The face of a friend rippled opposite him and the command mask he knew so well fastened in place, over his Captains features.

"You're right. It didn't. But I had to make a decision; I didn't see you coming up with any suggestions. I think I'll forgo the rest of the merriment, if you'll excuse me…" Before she could stand he stood, angry at his friends' stubborn refusal to pursue Seven.

"Fine Captain, you delude yourself into thinking she doesn't want you. If that makes it easier for you to keep avoiding talking to her about it. The real reason you won't approach her is because you are afraid of her rejection, the sooner you accept that the sooner you can be with her. You always take the rocky path Kathryn, but this time they don't lead to the same place and you are heading away from happiness. Ensign Green means nothing to her." She watched him walk away, and then stood herself meaning to head for the door, but was stopped in her tracks by Seven also getting up to leave. The deep red dress she wore made Janeway's heart beat faster as her eyes drank in the lovely sight. It was held up by two thin straps and dipped just low enough to teasingly start to reveal the swell of full breasts. Thick, blonde curls bounced around Seven's shoulders, with streaks of gold being occasionally illuminated by the dim lighting. She stared, she couldn't help it. Seven was magnificent.

* * *

She felt Lara's arm slip around her waist, resting on the curve of her hip, urging her towards the door. She turned to go but suddenly felt an electrical pulse crawl up over her skin. Without even looking up she could detect her Captains gaze, she could feel the want, the hunger, the longing that she finally understood. She raised her head, her eyes captured by dark blue ones filled with a desire so strong she felt it pulling her in, like a moth to a flame. Her lips felt suddenly dry and she ran her tongue over them, moistening them, eliciting a gasp from the older woman across the room. She too gasped, feeling her body respond heatedly. She wanted her Captain, she needed her badly.

There was a huge crash from the direction of the buffet table, where Neelix had just dropped a plate and the spell was broken, the Captains eyes now focused on the clumsy Talaxian. Lara pulled again and this time Seven let herself be led away from the mess hall, away from Kathryn.

* * *

"Fuck!" The Captain exclaimed under her breath, Chakotay had been right, she had known it really, deep down but now it was painfully obvious. Seven's eyes had held the same desire. **You're a fool Katie, a damn fool. If only you had said something or done something sooner.** Bitterly disappointed with herself she returned to her quarters alone, whereas Seven was no doubt with Lara.

* * *

Their kisses hot, wet and hard had started the moment the doors to Ensign Greens quarters had hissed shut. Seven felt the excitement levels of the other woman grow, just as she felt the zip on her dress being pulled down, loosening the red fabric. Before she knew it she was being pushed back on the bed with Lara's heated fully clothed body covering her own. She looked up, into emerald eyes, but she didn't see them, instead she was gazing at twin pools the colour of smoky blue skies surrounded by a well defined fac that was framed by long auburn locks. She moaned as she imagined it was the Captains hand that caressed her neck, moving up into her hair. But it wasn't the Captain, her body could not be fooled by her mind. She needed Kathryn against her. Finally listening to the primal instinct beating inside of her, she sat up and pushed Lara off, refastening her dress securely around her.

"Seven what's wrong?" The surprised Ensign asked, concerned.

"I wish to terminate this activity. I like you Ensign but I do not love you. You should have intercourse only with those whom you love, shouldn't you Ensign?"

"Well of course, if you have doubts then you shouldn't go through with it. Am I pushing you too fast Seven? Im sorry it's just you are so beautiful."

"Ensign, you have not pushed me. I simply wish to return our affiliation to its previous level. I believe I love another and it is not right for me to be here with you." The Ensigns face entertained a flash of hurt before a weak smile took its place. She had known really, that Seven was out of her league and now at least she would get to still be friends with the Ex-Drone.

"Oh, well I'm glad you realised in time. Thank you for being honest Seven. Can…can I ask who?"

"I do not doubt your ability to do so, but I will not tell you. I can not as she may be embarrassed. Goodnight Ensign." Seven left the quarters heading to cargo bay 2. It was late, she did not want to bother the Captain with unimportant news, as it would be inefficient for the ship if their Captain was preoccupied in the morning. She would save her declaration of love for after their first contact with the Sienn as the trade negotiations would no doubt be tricky.

* * *

**Authors' Note:- I know I said January but it seems my breaking up with my girlfriend sparked a creative mindset in me, i could'nt stop writing. I've done Chapter Seven too but i probably will upload that in January because i have to type it up from my notebook and i don't have the time right now, what with my impending examinations. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think. xSarahJanex**


	7. Staff Meeting

* * *

"Hail them!" The Captains voice ordered, resonating across the bridge. She had slept badly, her mind plagued by images of Seven with Lara but her voice, unlike her thoughts, remained crisp and clear.

"They're not responding Captain. They've raised shields and are charging weapons," Tuvok stated, ever calm.

"It seems that they Sienn are less than willing to part with that dilithium. Shields!" she barked, as the ship rocked hard to the starboard side. Years of practice allowed her to keep her balance as Seven was thrown to the floor behind her. She fought the urge to run to the blonde's side, to help her up, hold her. **She isn't yours Kathryn, besides she's a big girl and doesn't need your help.**

"Shields down to 82% and falling."

"Tuvok, target their weapons array. I haven't got time for this....Fire!" His fingers moved over the console and a jet of orange flew across the viewscreen and hit the other ship.

"Direct hit captain. Their weapons are disabled....and they are hailing us." She smiled to herself, **Gotcha.**

"That's more like it, onscreen." A small scale covered humanoid appeared on the viewscreen. He was light blue in colour, but had a patch of darker blue on the crown of its head, as if mimicking a hairline. Janeway met his eyes, a bright fiery yellow colour, and thought they foretold of a seething anger. When he spoke, the captain's opinion was confirmed. Sometimes she hated being right all the time.

"Why have you invaded our territory?" He growled in a low gruff voice that made her squirm slightly. **Like nails on a blackboard, **she thought as she shuddered.

"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. I assure you we do not intend you any harm, we simply wish to trade. You have large quantities of dilithium crystal on your world and we are in need of some. I'm sure we can come to some agreement, mr.....?" she waited for him to introduce himself. He did not, instead he chose to ignore her completely.

"The Sienn do not trade. I suggest you vacate our space immediately as you are no longer welcome in this region. If you fail to do this there will be severe consequences. You have been warned." He disappeared from the viewscreen. Janeway frowned, why did everything have to be a struggle? Nothing was ever simple. She turned round and looked at Seven, her eyes flickering over the drones perfect body before returning to eyes bluer than any sky. She sighed and looked away, **yep nothing is ever simple.** Why her? Out of all the people why fall in love with her? She pressed her commbadge , deciding to focus on one issue at a time.

"All senior officers report to the briefing room."

* * *

"B'Elanna how much power do we have left in terms of time? I want exact figures." It was 30 minutes later and all the senior staff members were sat around the briefing table. In 25 minutes of talking they had solved nothing, the captain rubbed her temples tiredly. She had already had to shoot two of Chakotay's suggestions on how to handle the Sienn down in flames and had settled for bottom lining everything.

"At current power consumption rates....96 hours, give or take a few minutes."

"Right so the bottom line is that we have to conserve power. Anyone have any suggestions?" She looked around the table, unable to resist a quick glance at Seven, but she was surprised when the young woman appeared not to be concentrating at all. She was sitting quite still, a small smile on resting on her face and a dreamy expression fogging her eyes. The captain felt a fresh wave of bitterness rise up inside of her, directed mainly at the reason why Seven was daydreaming. Her mind was obviously swamped with thoughts of the beautiful Ensign Lara Green or even worse memories of their lovemaking the night before. The rumour was all over the ship as they had left together after all. She had been there, she had seen the way the Ensigns arm had been draped round Seven, seen the way she looked at the blonde, her longing evident from across the messhall...

"Seven's alcove uses a lot of power," said Chakotay, breaking the contemplative silence, "couldn't we turn it off and just put her in stasis for a while? After all one stasis chamber uses less energy than that alcove does and it means she doesn't have to go without regeneration." Janeway glared at him, about to shoot him down in flames for the third time when Harry jumped in, saving the first officer from more scathing comments.

"No sir, the power usage of one stasis chamber should be about the same as Sevens alcove and if we keep her awake then we get the benefit of her expertise." He smiled at the former drone, a hint of his previous crush on her showing slightly. Janeway smiled wryly thinking to herself, **yet another person who wants to be with Seven. But hey, at least you have more of a chance than Harry does, not that it means anything as everyone has more of a chance than Harry.** She glanced at Chakotay and fumed inwardly at his smug smile, he suggested it on purpose she knew to tease her about not being with Seven. He knew she couldn't go without talking to Seven for any period of time over 24hours, at least not easily. She took a deep calming breath before opening her mouth to speak.

"It doesn't matter anyway; I didn't like the idea much in the first place. B'Elanna and Harry start finding ways to conserve power, on top of the standard ones like crewmembers doubling up for quarters etc. I want to be able to have the power to defend ourselves in case the Sienn have any more powerful ships in their fleet. Tuvok, look over all the information gathered in our brief encounter with the Sienn, try to find something that we have that they may want or need. I know they said they didn't trade but every species has its vice. Dismissed. Seven....a word." She called the Blonde back, as the rest of the senior officers left casting only the occasional backwards glance at Seven. She stood up and began pacing, regarding the younger woman sitting before her, not really sure how to continue. She needed Seven to be fully focused; Voyager couldn't afford to have distracted crewmembers right now.

"Seven, from when you first joined this crew over 2 years ago you have always been extremely focused and dedicated. I've come to expect a certain level of behaviour from you and I certainly don't expect you to be distracted in a staff meeting. I realise that you have had a significant change in your life recently but I still need you to concentrate. You can think about your girlfriend Lara on your own time." The last sentence came out more bitterly than the Captain had intended and she hoped Seven hadn't noticed.

"You are mistaken Captain. I was not thinking about Ensign Green." The Borg stood and walked slowly round the table to stop in front of her beloved Captain. Janeway swallowed nervously, **what is she doing?** She watched as Seven came closer still practically eradicating any gap between them.

"Seven....?" She breathed shakily trying to slow her heartbeat, as the woman of her dreams paused, her body only a few centimetres from the Captains.

"I think only of you, Kathryn. I just did not realise it before last night. I did not know how to interpret what I felt but now I do and...and now I find myself unable to express myself further," she pouted, " I apologise Captain, I have failed. If we were linked in a collective consciousness you would understand." The Captain couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything except grin at the adorable defeated look on Seven's face. Twin pairs of sapphire eyes met and suddenly words didn't matter anymore, everything needing to be said was conveyed in looks of smouldering desire that passed between the two women. Now she could move and she leaned in towards the Borg, reaching for Seven as Seven reached for her. Their mouths met in a hungry kiss that left Janeway feeling winded. Moans mingled as both women surrendered to the passion overwhelming them. She felt Sevens tongue slip inside her mouth and shivered in excitement as it slid wetly against her own, possessively stroking.

"Oh Seven...." she gasped as her legs parted instinctively and Seven quickly placed her thigh there, pushing hard against her centre. Her mind was spinning in perpetual circles as it struggled to accept that her wildest fantasy was coming true. Needing to touch Seven, to run her fingertips over smooth alabaster skin, she moved her hand from a petite waist to an elegant neck. Seven's skin was softer than she had ever imagined and she placed her mouth there biting at Sevens pulse point gently. She felt another wave of heat assail her and eagerly found Sevens waiting mouth with her own. As the kiss deepened, she felt frantic hands at the zip of her jacket and realised that Seven too was feeling the white heat that was over riding her thought processes. Janeway pulled her mouth back stopping it while she still could. Seven surprised at the sudden removal of her Captains mouth, stepped back dizzily, a flicker of hurt dancing round her eyes.

"Seven, I-" she started to say breathlessly as her commbadge chirped.

"Captain to the bridge, a second Sienn ship is approaching." Tuvoks' voice interrupted. Flashing an apologetic look at Seven, she tapped her commbadge.

"On my way." She straightened her uniform and exited the room, heading onto the bridge. **Focus Kathy. Deal with the Sienn first, Seven later. She'll still be there in a few hours.**

* * *

Seven stood alone in the briefing room, wondering what had just happened. They had been kissing, and everything felt wonderful. Janeway had wanted her, she knew that, it was evident from the way her body was reacting. But then why had she pulled away? **She had to go to the bridge?**, the voice in her head offered. **Yes but she pulled away before the commbadge beeped. Why?** She shook her head, she didn't know. Had she done something wrong? She sighed softly and headed to Astrometrics. Her shift wasn't over.

* * *

**Authors note:- Sorry about the wait for this chapter. College got kinda hectic and i didnt have the time to type it up, but hey it's here now. Hope you all like it. I'll try and get chapter 8 up in about a week. please review and let me know what you think. thankyou xSJx**


	8. Reconnecting

She woke to the sound of incessant beeping emanating somewhere from the ceiling. Groaning she pulled the Starfleet issue covers more securely round her, savouring their heavy warmth. The beeping carried on relentlessly, uncaringly stopping any further sleep prospects. She groaned again.

"Computer, deactivate alarm" she whispered hoarsely; four am was never pleasant but this morning she was even more reluctant to move. Today would be their first shift together since Seven had abruptly ended their relationship, if you could even call it a relationship. After all going out once to Chakotays' party didn't really make it official. **Why do I always end up being the one who's left all on their own? **She asked herself mentally, but as usual her mind had no answer. She sighed opening her eyes to her quarters which were shrouded in the perpetual darkness of space. Seven had said she wanted to return their affiliation to its previous level, but what did that mean exactly? Would they remain friends? She hoped so, they had become close over the past few weeks and she suspected that apart from the Captain and Naomi Wildman, she was the only other person Seven could class as a friend. **Seven** **may be seen by many amongst the crew as a cold Borg ice queen but** **I know different, she cares a lot about this ship and its crew, she just doesn't know what not to say sometimes and that means she comes across badly. **The Ensign considered her colleague, her social interactions with her had been improving and she knew she would improve further. She wasn't about to abandon Seven, besides working in Astrometrics would be extremely awkward if they weren't talking anymore. She chuckled fondly, though Seven would probably enjoy the silence.

"Computer, lights" The sudden illumination forced her eyes to close acting as a barrier to the harsh light. She cursed under her breath; four am was so not fun.

* * *

Feeling a lot more awake after her shower, Ensign Green detoured to the mess hall to stop her stomach growling embarrassingly in front of Seven during her shift. Seven of course being perfect had a stomach that never ever growled angrily over its lack of nourishment. As she ate, savouring the rich buttery flavour of the toast on her tongue she gazed thoughtfully at the Sienn homeworld. It had taken Captain Janeway many hours, several arguments, a few threats and one Borg Transwarp conduit to persuade the Sienn to let them mine dilithium ore. It would be hers and Seven's job to chart the mines and determine an extraction area based on the amount of dilithium needed. She wondered briefly if she would be sent to the planet's surface, before remembering that Seven as the senior officer got all the interesting jobs. Feeling slightly disappointed as no doubt she would remain on the ship, she finished her toast, washing it down with a mouthful of Neelixs' homemade 'coffee'. She pulled a face, after all these years he still insisted on improving Earth recipes. What she wouldn't give for some normal coffee right now......

"Sorry to interrupt Ensign, but is anyone sitting here?" she was startled out of her reverie by an extremely familiar voice, tilting her head back she saw Crewman Beth Porter hovering over her left shoulder.

"No, take a seat." She said gesturing at one of the three empty chairs surrounding her. She smiled warmly at her friend.

"So Lara how have you been? Haven't seen you in ages." She asked as she slid into the chair opposite, brushing a strand of chestnut hair away from her face as she did so. Ensign Green looked at her feeling tendrils of guilt snake into her stomach. They had been at the academy together, she remembered their shared joy when they had received the news that they had both been offered commissions on Voyager. Then she met Sandra and they had just grown apart over the last 2 years. Sandra had never liked Beth and to keep her happy she had stopped spending so much time with Beth. Looking back she wished she hadn't alienated her friend for her lover, after all when the relationship ended she had needed Seven to pick up the pieces instead of Beth. She reached over and took her old friends hand, silently vowing to never let it happen again. She ran her fingers over the delicate thin gold ring David had given Beth on their first anniversary. She smiled, she missed hanging out with him too, she met Beths' eyes and was reminded that it must be much worse for her.

"I'm ok, you know...surviving. How have you been? Have you heard from David?" she asked as she gazed at the ring. She was surprised though when the hand was pulled from her own, the Ensign looked up and saw that Beths' entire face had changed. She was now looking like she regretted sitting with her. Lara felt a moment of panic rush through her veins, was it the touching? They used to always touch before, it hadn't seemed to bother Beth at all. Beth knew she wasn't trying anything, right?

"Look Beth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything, I just presumed....geez I'm sorry. It was inappropriate, I'm sorry." She felt the words tumble out of her mouth, knowing she looked like a babbling idiot yet she still couldn't stop them.

"No Lara, don't be silly, it's not what you think. We are fine, God I missed your panic attacks. I am totally comfortable with you being gay, you idiot", she laughed briefly before the sad look came back to rest in her dark eyes, "It's David, he...well he has moved on. We aren't together anymore. No, David it seems couldn't wait for Voyager to come home and has shacked up with some woman he works with." She laughed bitterly, "I was dumped by someone across the galaxy...how pathetic is that?"

"The Captain went through that too," Lara said, nodding as Beth looked up in surprise, "She got a Dear John letter from Mark. I guess it is hard for partners who were left behind to hold on to the hope we may be coming back. I mean we are in the Delta Quadrant."

"How do you know she got one?" Beth asked curiously. She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Seven told me" she answered, looking away as she tried to hide the rising joy she felt whenever she thought of the stoic blonde; she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. But she was a second too late as Lara smiled knowingly.

"You still like her?....I heard what happened and I'm sorry. But can I just ask, well...why her Lara? There are plenty of other women who are less...less..." she paused struggling to find words that wouldn't insult her friend.

"Borg." Ensign Green interjected half sadly, half jokingly.

"Well yeah, sorry."

"No it's ok. I don't know why really, it's just she has such a stigma attached to her you know, but you peel away the tiniest bit of her cold Borg front and she is a vibrant, funny, caring, intelligent woman. People just need to get to know her, she is amazing....but, she loves someone else. So it doesn't matter if I still like her a tiny bit. I'll get over her, it's the Sandra thing that hurts the most anyway." She muttered with a sigh.

They chatted further, changing the subject onto less complicated matters and arranged to have dinner the following week before Ensign Green hurried off to Astrometrics for her shift.

* * *

Seven stood perfectly still, poised atop her heeled shoes not moving a muscle. To anyone watching it would have seemed like a manikin had been placed at Sevens console as a joke, probably courtesy of Tom Paris. However, there was no manikin, merely an Ex-Drone lost in thought, the notion of work having long left her usually forever busy hands. They had kissed. Captain Janeway had kissed her back, everything had been brilliant. Seven had never experienced such emotion at another's touch....yet something had been wrong. Why else would she have pulled away? **Maybe she doesn't feel the same way**. She felt her heart sink as this thought echoed through her mind; she just wanted the Captain to feel something for her.

The familiar sound of the Astrometrics lab doors opening caused her to jump slightly. The hint of lavender that wove its way around the room on a nonexistent breeze told her exactly who was stood in the doorway. She felt her stomach tighten and start fluttering involuntarily, her bodies' usual reaction.

"Captain." She murmured in acknowledgement of the older woman, not turning round. There was a hushed silence, light footfalls then a hand pressing softly against the small of Seven's back gently turning her anticlockwise to face her captain. She shuddered at the contact as the captains thumb began to move in agonisingly slow circles. Each movement causing a pulse to travel from her back to her groin, she felt her want increase, felt her heartbeat quicken. Meeting smoky blue eyes with her own, she opened her mouth to speak, surprised by the Captains forward actions. Her words failed her though as Janeways left hand came up to caress her face brushing her other thumb over Sevens open lips. The thumb left her full red lips, only to be replaced by a warm mouth. Seven gasped into Janeway as her eyes slid shut. Their kiss was tender at first, simply the slight pressure of her captains lips against her own.

Janeway moaned gently, struggling to maintain her collected composure as the kiss deepened. Six years of pent up sexual frustration was coming to a head under the Borgs' touch and it was almost unbearable. She ran her tongue over Sevens lower lip, seeking access. It was immediately granted, eliciting moans from both women. The second low moan from the Captain caused another wave of heat to pulsate through Sevens body. She reached behind the older woman and roughly pulled their bodies together, desperate to satisfy the need to experience and feel as much of the older womans body as possible. She placed her hands on her petite waist as the captain moved her own hands to hold Sevens face steady. Her tongue continued to dart in and out of the Borg's mouth, rubbing forcefully against Sevens tongue, pausing only to gently nip a full lower lip between her teeth. Seven was lost in a maze of emotions, the want, the need, even desperation that crowded her made her forget all previous doubt she had over why Janeway had pulled away before.

"Oh my God..." The Captain leapt backwards as if Seven had caught fire, too pre-occupied with each other they had not noticed Ensign Green enter Astrometrics, slightly out of breath from running to avoid being late. The Captain and Lara looked at each other silently, unsure of what to say or do, while Seven remained oblivious to the tension. The captain recovered first, her years of command training flooding back to her. **A Captain must be able to take control of any situation, no matter how uncomfortable, **she reminded herself calmly.

"Ensign tell me, how do you like working in Astrometrics?" The Ensign blinked, thrown off by the out of the blue question.

"Um, yes Captain, I really enjoy it." She replied slowly unsure of how she should be acting. She had just walked in on her Captain and Seven kissing, how was she meant to react?

"I'm glad to hear it Ensign. I trust your discretion is guaranteed? It would be a shame to have to reacquaint you with the transporter room." Her smile was warm as she spoke, only partly joking, the underlying tone of steel in her voice was one Seven had often been on the receiving end of.

"Yes, ma'am. It would."

"I'm glad you understand. Seven, I'll see you later." She sent a last smouldering look at the Blonde Borg and left the room. Seven faltered slightly as the doors closed behind the Captain. The burning, all-consuming hunger and desire that had been contained in that parting glance from smoky blue eyes, darker than ever before had made the heavy throbbing so much worse. She felt as if her knees wanted to collapse from under her and she found that she hurt with need.

Ensign Green watched her, a bemused expression taking shape as she tried not to laugh. The usually ever focussed Borg was standing with her mouth open, staring into space. She chuckled slightly, unable to fully contain the laughter.

"Seven?"

"....huh?"

"Are you ok?" she was grinning broadly now, she couldn't help it. Seven was so whipped.

"Uh...yes, wonderful....absolutely wonderful." Lara pushed Seven lightly towards the door accompanied by three small words.

"Go after her."

* * *

**A/N:- very very sorry about the two month wait. i had more exams and everything got all *argh* as i realised i didnt actually know anything about Chemistry. But panic over now, all exams are finished so i should be able to post the next chapter faster. thankyou for reading...if you still are...again very sorry about the wait. xSJx**


	9. Decisions Decisions

She half-walked half-marched through the corridors she knew blindfolded. Her thoughts instinctively guided her to the sanctuary of her private quarters. It was the place where she mulled over all of her decisions good or bad. Though she had to admit, more of her hours were devoted to reliving the bad ones. The endless parades of 'what ifs' that danced to the sombre tune of her command were regular visitors in the small hours of the mornings, when the captain unable to sleep, drank into the night causing the debates to swirl in her mind.

She lowered herself into her chair, facing outwards into the thousands of tiny lights scattered amongst the backdrop of everlasting night. Gazing into the infinite nature of space never failed to soothe her upturned mind and she sat silently for a few moments, organising her thoughts. Was it a bad decision to pursue Seven? Starfleet as an institution was not sexist, xenophobic or homophobic yet people were still entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. She knew fine well that command decisions were often interfered with by personal opinions, no matter how prestigious the Captain. She had indeed found herself at the mercy of her personal feelings and beliefs on a few occasions. Forcing Seven to embrace humanity was a decision she knew she had made because she had been of the opinion that the Drone would one day thank her, would one day be grateful for being shown the freedom she could have. That decision she hoped had been influenced by her beliefs in a positive way, however there was a yin to every yang.

Here on Voyager she relied heavily on crew support. There was no backup for her in the Delta Quadrant should her crews' prejudices cause them to doubt her command decisions. If she engaged in a lesbian relationship with Seven of Nine, the repercussions on the crew could be disastrous. **I have to get this crew home,** she thought furiously. Her promise to Tuvok reverberated around her mind. She would get him back to his family even if that meant she had to sacrifice her wants and desires.

"Yet everything could be fine, the crew could be accepting and then I'd be happy", she murmured quietly, trying to convince herself to take the risk, but this thought was silenced by the other voices in her head telling her the risk was too great, even if the reward seemed worth it. **I have a duty to this crew. I am not about to disregard that. **

She rubbed her eyes tiredly; she had just worked her fifth night shift in a row. Her body needed sleep even if her mind had other ideas. She switched to autopilot, bypassing further debating and before she knew it she was nestled between the Starfleet issue sheets on her bed. Her commbadge was a mere 12 inches away, should the crew need her. She lay still and felt the heavy hand of sleep begin to massage the edge of her conscious mind. However, it could not get a firm grip as the blackness never came. She tossed and turned uneasily, something was different. Giving in she sat up abruptly; it was almost as if she could sense another presence. She rose, discarding the covers and donning her pale lilac nightgown. As she headed into her main living area she called out.

"Is anybody there?" She glanced around, everything was the same and yet....not. She moved to the door and pressed the keypad to open it. She had expected it but was still surprised and heard herself yelp as Seven was revealed to be standing in the doorway.

"Seven how long have you been standing there?" she asked, arms folded across her chest where she could feel her heartbeat quicken, both at the shock and the beautiful woman standing in her doorway.

"87.4 minutes Captain". She answered breathlessly, taking in the masterpiece that was the captain. Her auburn hair fell loosely around her face and shoulders, a slight curl to it. The nightgown too held her captive; the thin material clung to Janeways perfect body, revealing the swell of breasts normally hidden under the uniform that did not do her justice.

"Why Seven? What do you want?" The Borg shifted uncomfortably; she did not truly know the answer to that question. The Captain smiled; Seven was adorable when she was confused. She took Seven's alabaster hands in her own and pulled her through the doorway. "We need to talk."

She led Seven to a sofa where they sat side by side, although she released one of Sevens' hands she kept a tight grip on the other one. This was going to be difficult. Sevens toned thigh brushed up against her own and she felt the familiar flame of desire ignite again. Scratch that, it was going to be nigh on impossible. She hurriedly cleared her throat; there was no time like the present.

"Seven I think there's something we should we discuss. For the past two years we have had the relationship of mentor-student as I was there for you while you adjusted to humanity. You know I will always be there for you," she squeezed the hand in hers gently, "but I also have responsibilities to the rest of the crew. I can't put one before the needs of the many and for this reason-", she paused, she knew it was a mistake yet did it anyway. She looked into eyes full of adoration, bluer than Indiana skies and was lost.

It occurred as if in slow motion, her sentence died upon her lips as Seven leaned in. She could hear her heart hammering in her chest. She felt her own body move in towards the blonde, seemingly by magnetic force. Her eyes slid shut and she felt Seven's breath whisper across her slightly parted lips; evidence that she was a just a few millimetres away. She managed to hold back a moan of frustration as Seven did not come any closer. Yes they had kissed before but this was different. Her uniform was discarded in the other room and with it the shackles of captaincy no longer restrained her. She shivered with anticipation as the thought of the kiss developing further entered her mind. She would allow herself tonight, allow herself to forget her responsibilities and allow herself to live at the hands of the beautiful Blonde.

The scent of lavender was overwhelming Seven; she loved the way Kathryn smelled so fresh and familiar. The perfume drew her in like a moth to a flame yet still she paused. Despite her shaky background regarding relationships she knew deep inside that she had to make sure this is what her Captain truly wanted. Behind the Borg shell lay a naive vulnerable woman, she had to make sure she would not be tossed aside. The Captains recent warning was conjured up [_When two people embark on a relationship, it creates a powerful entity and when that relationship ends, for whatever reason, it can cause severe pain to the individuals involved. Emotional wounds cannot be healed by the Doctor, despite his advanced programming.]_

Sure that her Captain would not hurt her in ways that even the Doctor could not cure she closed the gap between their lips; she had given Janeway plenty of time to pull away.

* * *

**A/N:- Thankyou for reading, and don't worry the sex scene is close i'm just taking my time over it is all, that's why ive split this chapter into two halves so i didn't keep ya waiting too long. anyway, reviews would be nice if you have the time. thanks again xSJx**


	10. Sacrifices

**Author's Note:- **sorry about the wait, i was anxiously waiting for my A-level results and well got quite blocked. Sorry! But I've got them now (Chemistry = A, Biology = A, History = A, Mathematics = A) so all is well and here is Chapter 10. **Sam C**, sorry its 2 days later than i said, hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Janeway moaned softly as Sevens' ruby lips crushed forcefully against her own. There was no tenderness, only primal hunger as the liquid fire of desire coursed through both the womens' veins. This was the way she preferred it, hot and full of emotion. She could already feel the heat emanating from the young Blonde and it excited her, evoking a similar reaction from her own body. As the kiss deepened allowing tongues to duel wetly she pulled Sevens body closer. Using one hand to support herself she twisted to face the Borg as fully as she could, the other hand pushed firmly into Sevens back. Their breasts pressed together, heartbeats synchronised in their mutual passion.

"Captain?" Seven whispered breathlessly between kisses

"Yes?" Janeway murmured against full lips.

"I wish to remove your nightgown. Is that acceptable?" Laughing at Sevens formal request, the older woman stood offering one hand to her soon to be lover.

"Very."

Seven allowed herself to be led to Kathryns' bedroom. As their anticipation grew she could feel the atmosphere changing. Her mind as always was light-years ahead and was already flicking through images of the Captains naked form straddling her own. The two women stood facing each other at the end of the bed and Seven raised her arm, running her hand over a smooth bicep; admiring the older womans strength. Subtle but commanding, her physical form had always stirred up emotions the Borg had been unable to interpret until now. Want. Lust. Desire.

Having travelled slowly down the length of the smooth bicep, her hand stilled. She hesitated as she realised she did not know how to proceed; copulation was not part of the Borg's curriculum. She wanted to bring the older woman to the dizzy heights of orgasmic pleasure yet knew not how to even get her off the ground.

Janeway read the mixture of disappointment and a vaguely lost look that had amassed on Sevens sculpted features. She gently raised a delicate chin with two fingers.

"Why don't you start by removing my nightgown?" she asked with a slight smile. She guided Seven's hands to the thin straps that held the lilac nightgown up and pushed them off of her shoulders. Unaided the Blonde pulled the gown down over the swell of breasts where it quickly fell, the silky fabric pooling around their feet. As her lover stepped out of the gown Seven felt all of the moisture evaporate from her mouth; the magnificent sight bestowed upon her azure eyes was too much for her cortical node to even begin to process. How the rest of mankind coped she did not know.

The fallen clothing had revealed perfectly formed breasts seemingly untouched by the sands of time. She fought the urge to put her mouth there, instead allowing her eyes to travel down from the breasts across the expanse of flat toned stomach, then lower to the neat patch of auburn. The throbbing became heavier, more insistent, as the sight of her Captains body gave rise to a longing she thought she would never be a slave to. **She is my omega, Kathryn is perfection.**

She felt her biosuit being undone at the nape of her neck and gasped as warm hands caressed her newly exposed shoulder blades, pushing the material down further until it joined the discarded nightgown at their feet. Now fully naked she shyly covered an implant on her right thigh with her hand. She wanted to be perfect for Kathryn. She was nervous, she realised, that Kathryn would not consider her a suitable mate after all, nervous that the Borg in her would not be appropriate for the Captain in Kathryn but she did not need to worry however, once free of her biosuit Janeway had begun lavishing her with urgent kisses that teemed with approval.

**My god she is beautiful**, the older woman thought in awe of the woman in her arms. With a growl she firmly pushed the six feet of gorgeous blonde Borg onto her bed and then quickly joined her, their naked bodies meeting for the first time. Her hands moved to undo the clasps holding golden hair in place and it fell in silky motion to frame the alabaster skin of Sevens face and shoulders. Her breath hitched at the angelic beauty on her pillow. Whatever tiredness her body contained from her third consecutive night shift evaporated with every increased level of arousal she felt. She wanted to spend the rest of the day and all of the night making love with Seven.

Kissing the younger womans lips softly, she trailed her fingertips down an elegant neck to the dip caused by her left collarbone earning a sensual low moan from the Ex-Drone. As her fingers continued their journey exploring the smooth supple skin of Sevens shoulders and chest, she repositioned to carefully insert her knee between the Blondes legs to ease them apart. Her hand slipped lower to caress a taut nipple and she ran a thumb over the sensitive bud feeling Seven jerk beneath her. She smiled against ruby lips before moving lower down. Her tongue followed the same path as her eager fingertips and as she sucked a nipple into her mouth she realised Sevens hips had started to move in a slow grind against her thigh. She heard a moan escape her mouth before she could stop it; Seven was so wet. The urge to touch Seven was overpowering but, conscious it was her first time she forced herself to stop.

"Seven, is this what you truly want?" she asked breathlessly, hoping for the answer to be yes. Seven opened her eyes and met her gaze, blue on blue. With a smouldering look that elicited another groan of desire from the older woman, came her answer.

"Affirmative" The Ex-Drone had never felt such a longing before, such a need. She took hold of her lovers hand and placed it over her centre.

"I wish for you to touch me here Captain."

She gasped as Kathryns finger slowly and deliberately traced around her clitoris, carefully avoiding it. So close yet not quite there, she moved her hips to try and force Kathryn to touch her where she felt the ache of her need reside.

The Captain chuckled softly at the noises of frustration Seven was emitting and snaked her tongue around the edge of Sevens ear. Seven whimpered as she felt the warm tongue began to dart in and out and started to writhe as the light biting of her ear lobe made her legs tingle.

"Please Captain...." she moaned as her hands twisted into the sheets, "please..."

Unable to deny the begging Drone any longer she stopped her teasing and she moved her fingers in languid strokes over the hardened bundle of nerves, whilst sucking at Sevens pulse point just below her ear.

"Oh....Kathryn..." her response was immediate and she began to grind quickly against Janeways hand. She could not think, only experience as she felt the pressure build up inside of her, her hips bucked wildly to the now faster rhythm of Kathryns fingers and her hands clutched wildly at her lovers back. For a few exquisite seconds she rode the edge of her orgasm before she toppled over into the spasms of paradise.

"Kathryn!" her moan was whipped from her mouth as her body convulsed from her centre outwards, rippling through taut muscles. Finally she collapsed into the sheets, her eyes closed, her body still, peaceful though breathing heavily.

Janeway watched her for a few moments before tenderly kissing her lips. She then cuddles into Seven and placed a protective arm around her lovers waist, breathing in the heady scent of hers and Sevens arousal. The Borg slowly opened her eyes and snuggled deeper into the Captains body.

"That was perfection."

* * *

The Captain of the Sienn ship that had been 'escorting' them as the glided around their homeworld in a slow orbit glowered at Chakotay.

"This is not acceptable. I demand to speak with the Captain and only her." An angry buzzing almost like a growl followed his words. Chakotay exasperatedly ran his hands through his greying hair; he had been trying to explain that the Captain was busy for the better part of 15 minutes. Knowing his superiors usual pattern of little sleep or rest he was reluctant to rouse her when for once it appeared she had actually wanted to retire to her quarters rather than having to be forced there.

"Captain I assure you, I am a commanding officer and I am quite capable of dealing with any questions or needs you should have. If you would just tell me what this is about-"

"No!" screeched the reptile. He saw Paris flinch at the high pitched noise and barely managed to hide his smirk from the Sienn Captain, "You have one hour for your Captain to contact me or you must find your dilithium elsewhere."

The viewscreen went blank and he cursed silently to himself. He would have to wake up the Captain. Reluctant to disturb her he decided to talk to Seven first. He stepped into the turbo lift, calling over his shoulder to Paris.

"You have the Bridge Lieutenant." As the doors slid closed he cleared his throat.

"Computer locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in the Captains quarters". He paused, unsure of what to do next. **If Seven is there then clearly the Captain is awake...unless...**, he smiled to himself, **way to go Kathryn.** He sighed as he realised time was ticking on regardless of his Captains new found sex life. **Sorry Kathryn.** He pressed his commbadge.

* * *

"Chakotay to Janeway" The bleep of her commbadge jerked her out of her reverie. The slow rise and fall of Sevens sleeping chest was mesmerising; the dozing blonde was beyond doubt the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She reached for her commbadge and felt Seven stir.

"Janeway here" she answered crisply.

"Sorry to bother you Captain, the Sienn wish to speak with you and only you."

"On my way." She gently extricated her limbs from Sevens and slid off the bed.

Seven silently watched her lover dress, admiring the sight she had woken up to. Her post orgasmic slumber was filled with images of her Captain. She wanted to do to the Captain what she had lovingly done to Seven earlier this morning.

"Should I wait for you here Captain?" she asked in a low sultry voice and a seductive arch of an eyebrow that almost made Janeway reconsider. Almost. She looked at the expectant Ex-Drone and felt her heart catch momentarily. She loved Seven, she knew it really, always had done, but it didn't matter; she was Captain.

"Seven," she began in her best negotiating voice, "I don't think that it would be appropriate. Last night was..."

"Perfection?" Seven supplied with a smile.

"A one off. That's it. No more," she watched the smile fade from Sevens face and hurriedly continued, "I am Captain, I have responsibilities and to honour those certain sacrifices must be made."

"Unacceptable. I will not be one such sacrifice," Sevens voice was lined with anger and her eyes flashed a dark blue, "You seemed to forget these sacrifices earlier this morning." She added coldly.

"Seven I'm sorry but I made a mistake. I shouldn't have slept with you...I...I'm sorry." She finished lamely hating how distant she must have sounded. However, it was necessary; Seven would eventually understand.

Seven watched the Captain leave for the Bridge and felt a warmth slide down her cheeks. She drew the covers around her naked body and inhaled the scent of Kathryns perfume as she cried softly into her pillow.


	11. A Learning Curve

**A Learning Curve**

Chakotay watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture he had seen the Captain perform many times when under emotional stress. Her hands were dancing expressively as she talked with the Sienn Captain. She moved the same, talked the same but he saw it in her eyes. There was a sadness there he had only seen a few times before, the most noticeable of which had been when she had found out Mark had moved on, calling off their engagement. He suspected something along similar lines had occurred with Seven. She had neither confirmed nor denied spending the earlier part of the day 'with' Seven, but then again he hadn't asked and he knew the information would not be freely volunteered. His gut instinct however told him that she had and that it hadn't ended well; her eyes gave too much away.

He glanced at Tuvok and their eyes met. The Vulcan nodded, just the slight movement of his head but it was enough. Chakotay knew that he too had noticed the painful emotion almost successfully hidden behind the veiled eyes of Voyagers' Captain. Though still concerned he managed to turn his attention back to the conversation she was having with the Sienn; it did not do to dwell on something he couldn't fix until she was ready.

"Failure to comply will be interpreted as an act of war and your ship will be destroyed." The Sienn captain snarled, his tongue flicking angrily as he spoke.

"I understand Captain, and I assure you, your demands will be met. We only wish to extract dilithium ore we have no ulterior motive." She smiled, exuding her usual charm in an attempt to pacify.

"See that you don't". The screen went black as communications were cut. She sighed and turned to her First Officer, "I'll be in my ready room, you have the bridge." She exited quickly and as the doors closed behind her he decided to give her 10 minutes then he was going in.

* * *

Pulling the Padd towards her she added to the list of Sienn demands. They were just rules really, all they were doing was trying to exert their authority. She added 'No more than 8 hours of mining a day' to the list where it joined 'detailed schematics of the mining site are required every hour' amongst many others. It struck her that there must be a reason why this species was so mistrusting and suspicious of other species'. A war perhaps, maybe they had been exploited in the past but she knew she would never find out; they were too much like closed books now. They wouldn't tell her anything. She pushed her chair back and strode to the replicator.

"coffee, black."

As requested a tall silver mug appeared filled to the brim with her one vice. She took a sip, cradling the beverage in both hands like it was her life line, her only means of survival. It depressed her to realise that the sentiment was more true than not. She took a seat underneath her windows and turned to stare into space as she drank her elixir of life. A haunting image of Sevens face, eyes overflowing with tears of hurt, mouth slightly open after the shock of being abandoned so quickly came flooding back to her conscious mind. She felt the ache in her chest tighten and become more pronounced, but it was for the best. This was the way things had to be. _You tell yourself that Katie, see how well you cope. _She silenced the voice with an internal glare, now was not the time, she could feel sorry for herself when she was finished her duty, when Voyager was home. After a few minutes the door chirped signalling a crewmembers desire to enter. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, hoping it wasn't Seven.

"Come in." Her First Officer walked in, momentarily disorientated by her not being at her desk but he recovered. Her gestured to the seat beside her.

"May I?" She nodded and waited for him to start.

"Kathryn," he began hesitantly, "I think we-". She held up a hand, still nursing her coffee with the other.

"If this is about Seven, I don't want to hear it Chakotay."

"But Kathryn-"

"I mean it Commander, that's an order." Her voice adopted a firm edge as she felt herself becoming annoyed. It was none of his business.

"You can't pull rank over me captain. I-"

"I just did. Last time I checked Commander you hadn't been promoted and I'm not dead so unless we are in an alternate universe I am still the highest ranked commanding officer on this ship. So I can and will pull rank." She fixed him with a force 10 glare but he shrugged it off; he was used to them by now. She frustrated him with her stubborn nature and he took a chance hoping it would pay off.

"I know you slept with her, and from the look in your eyes I assume you ran off as soon as your sense of duty kicked in leaving behind a hurt and confused Ex-Drone. Am I right?" It paid off. He watched his captains mouth open in anger then saw it close the emotion replaced by one of sadness mixed with something he did not quite recognise. Guilt maybe or regret? She placed her coffee on the table and cradled her head in her hands.

"Yes, yes you're right." She muttered quietly. He scooted closer to her and put his arm round her slender form, hugging her warmly.

"Kathryn, why are you acting this way? Do you love her?" she nodded in response. In admitting it to Chakotay she knew she couldn't bury it anymore. She had to deal with this, she had to figure out what she was going to do.

"I am a Starfleet Captain Chakotay, I don't have the luxury of engaging in romantic relationships. I have to remain focussed; I have to get this crew home."

"This crew wants you to be happy."

"This crew would be happy if it wasn't for me. They would be with their loved ones, they would be home," She retorted bitterly, "Instead we are tens of thousands of light years from Earth because of me."

"Captain, no one blames you for what you did. The array had to be destroyed. You're punishing yourself for something that wasn't your fault. You deserve to be happy, everyone thinks so." She abruptly moved away from him, standing up, coffee back in her hands. She had had enough, the image of Seven came back along with the angry faces of her crew, the moment they had been informed they were trapped in the Delta Quadrant. _Christ all I do is make wrong decisions._ The anger and injustice she felt at it all was manifesting inside of her and she needed to be on her own.

"You're dismissed."

"Kathryn-" He tried to stop her from isolating herself.

"I said dismissed!" She raised her voice, lacing it with anger.

"I guess Seven is better off without you really isn't she? If you loved her you wouldn't have hurt her this way."

"Get out!" She shouted, the truth in his words hitting a nerve.

"You're acting like an idiot Katie. Why can't you see that?" He shouted, trying to make her understand, she was just so Goddamn stubborn sometimes. She refused to see opportunities for happiness that lay right under her nose.

When he still made no move to vacate her office she picked up her phaser and pointed it at his chest. Immature she knew, but if it took stunning him to make him get out then by God she was going to stun him.

"Get. Out. Now." The steely glint in her eyes told him he had pushed her too far and he left, striding onto the bridge still glaring. He passed Tuvok and muttered under his breath, just loud enough for the Vulcan to hear.

"She's all yours."

* * *

Knowing the Captain as he did he had left it an hour before entering her ready room. She looked up as he entered and smiled weakly. He stood in front of her desk, ready to help her solve her self-inflicted problem as usual. She spoke first.

"Tuvok I think I need your guidance."

"Indeed," he said with the slight incline of his head, "It would appear so. You are conflicted. You love Seven, but a relationship would make you happy and you can't allow yourself that experience until you have righted all the wrongs that rest squarely on your shoulders. The most important one being the destruction of the Caretaker's array that resulted in voyager being stranded here in the Delta Quadrant."

She sighed softly, "why is it you are always right Tuvok?" She rose and started to pace, "how can I expect the crew to accept this, when I am the reason we will never see our loved ones again? And then there is the small matter of me being Captain and not allowed to fraternise with the crew."

"Captain, there is no evidence to suggest the crew would be anything but supportive and although Starfleet does not condone relationships between senior officers, it is improbable that they expect Voyager to uphold those rules here in the Delta Quadrant. However, reasoning aside we both know that the only person you have to convince is yourself and your stubborn nature dictates that it will be a long conversation." She looked up in surprise at the humour in his voice and saw the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.

"Is that a smile I see Tuvok?" she teased playfully, her fondness for her security chief evident in her lopsided smile.

"You must be mistaken Captain."

"Of course my apologies, forgive me?"

"Certainly." He replied with the arch of an eyebrow. She sat back down, ready for his advice.

* * *

**Authors Note:** I apologise for the extremely long wait for this chapter, I started University and everything got all hectic as life does. I am back on the ball now though and am working on my writing again. Again apologies, and have a nice christmas, should have the next chapter up in a few weeks. xSJx


	12. Gone

**Authors Note:- Sorry its been a while since I updated I've had a lot going on, should update again in the next few weeks. Hope those of you who are still reading it like this chapter. Reviews are appreciated. xSJx**

Ensign Green worked in silence, carefully calibrating the drill. The crew of voyager had mined enough dilithium over the last four days to power the warp core for several months and this was to be the last day of mining on the Sienn Homeworld. Overall, despite first impressions the reptilian race weren't as aggressively strict as they had first seemed, the away teams had been left in peace and the ship's bridge crew was only subject to the occasional conversation devoid of any sort of acceptable social manners.

Secretly though she was glad to be leaving the dark, damp, slightly stale atmosphere of the underground tunnels. It wouldn't have been so bad she surmised, if the company she had wasn't as, if not more, depressing than the surroundings. For the past four days the only words to come out of Sevens mouth were the occasional, "Affirmative" interspaced with the odd "Stand aside Ensign, your method is incorrect."

She tapped the final command into the drills control panel and stepped back to let it do its job. The laser began cutting into the rock face with a soft hum that echoed slightly in the tunnels. She glanced over her shoulder her eyes briefly skimming over the senior astrometric officers' alabaster features. Her face was blank in a highly controlled expressionless state, she wanted to know what was bothering the blonde but knew that if Seven was going to tell her then she would do it in her own time. Seven stepped back from her own drill, having keyed in the final sequence of commands and the two officers stood in a faintly awkward silence, though the Ensign suspected she was the only one able to feel the slight atmosphere between them.

As both drills cut into the rock Lara was acutely aware of Seven making a small noise, almost as if she had gone to say something then thought better of it. The young woman looked again at the Borg's face, taking in the dull eyes with their hidden sorrow and less well hidden pain. She waited.

"Ensign?" asked Seven slowly.

"Yes, Seven?"

"I am sorry for not copulating with you." Whatever Ensign Green had expected the blonde to say it was not that. She faltered slightly, taken aback at the words.

"um, it's alright Seven."

"It must have been painful" the Borg said matter-of-factly. The way in which Seven was certain of the truth in her words made the pieces suddenly click into place for Lara. She lay a hand on the Borgs' shoulder whilst turning slightly to face her, "Captain Janeway?" It wasn't a question, not really, she already knew the answer. Love was cruel but every moment of happiness spent in your lovers' arms was worth the moment when they ripped your heart out with such ferocity it made you physically sick, sick to the point where even death would be a relief.

The caring touch by the Ensign weakened the cracks in her Borg armour further and with a quiet sob she felt the forcefield she had erected around her emotions disintegrate. Without thinking she moved into the brunettes arms and let herself be cradled, surprised by how comforting such a simple gesture could be. She clutched the Ensign tighter to her, never wanting to let go.

"It hurts" she whispered as the tears continued to slide down her cheeks to mingle with Lara's hair. The vulnerability of the usually commanding, controlled Ex-Drone in her embrace shocked the Ensign a little. Never had she thought the mind of a Borg would be capable of both comprehending and experiencing the intense emotions involved in romance. It saddened her to think of the pain her colleague was going through, especially when she was new to humanity in the first place. Janeway was an idiot.

"I know Seven, but it'll get easier, I promise"

"How can-" There was a deafening rumble, a slow grating sound and then nothing but the blackness as both women were buried under a blanket of rock.

* * *

"Captain?"

An internal sigh manifested itself; something told her this was not going to be good, "Yes, Tuvok?" she replied without turning round in her command chair.

"The Delta away team have failed to submit their hourly mineshaft schematic."

"Who is on the Delta team?" she asked, not quite remembering the briefing that morning. To be fair she couldn't really remember any of the past four days; Seven was avoiding her but that was to be expected. The sense of loss of loneliness she felt consumed her thoughts leaving little energy for the task of running her ship. **And you still haven't decided what to do,** her inner voice sang scathingly.

"Seven and Ensign Green" At the sound of Seven's name she snapped to attention and pressed her commbadge.

"Captain Janeway to Delta Team?" A silence crept over the bridge as they waited for a reply. "Ensign Green? Seven? Please respond." Her voice was crisp, only containing a mere hint of the worry coursing through her. There was no answer. She had crossed the bridge before most of the officers had blinked, to hover over Harry.

"Can you get a lock on them?" she asked bracing her hands against the console, her eyes flying over the data onscreen.

"Yes Ma'am", he replied tapping at the operations console. She breathed an inwards sigh of relief.

"Beam them to sickbay. Chakotay you have the bridge."

* * *

Entering sickbay she noticed the Doctor bending over a seemingly unconscious Ensign Green. Her uniform was torn covered in black dust, she had minor scratched covering her visible skin and a worryingly large bloodstain covering her chest. Seven was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Seven?" She barked, making her way over to the biobed.

"Not here, but her commbadge is on that biobed." The EMH replied busily attending to his patient. Her heart sank. The captain picked up the small device and ran her fingers over the edges. **Please be okay,** she prayed silently.

"Janeway to Chakotay."

"Here Captain" Chakotays voice answered.

"Seven wasn't transported back, only her commbadge, I need you to contact the other teams and tell them to find her. I'm heading back to the bridge."

"Understood." Her hand clenched around the metal device in her hand while her thoughts tumbled endlessly around her tired brain. The Doctor glanced up at the mature woman stood at the foot of what should have been Seven's biobed, the pain evident in her face. He may not have been well known amongst the crew for his astounding compassion but even he had sympathy for her.

"I've no doubt that you'll find her Captain" his voice jerked her back and she smiled sadly.

"What makes you so sure?"

"You always do...but Captain?"

"hmmm?" she paused halfway to the door.

"Find her fast, judging by the amount of her blood on the Ensigns uniform, she has a severe injury, haemorrhaging quite badly."

"How long?"

"A couple of hours at best"

* * *

They were no closer to getting Seven out he surmised, looking at the viewscreen which portrayed a three dimensional representation of what appeared to be a 10m thick cave in with a weak humanoid life sign slap, bang in the middle. The alpha and beta away teams had found the cave in and initial reports were not looking good; there appeared to be no access to Seven. Sensors couldn't get a lock so transportation was out of the window and he didn't want to risk digging through for fear of another cave in. A small bleep over his shoulder informed him of an incoming transmission.

"The Sienn are hailing us Commander, audio only." Harry stated from behind his console. He nodded at the Ensign, signalling him to put them through. He opened his mouth to introduce himself but was interrupted.

"This is Rokbah of the Sienn Cruiser Taloke. It has come to our attention that you are responsible for damage to our tunnel system. You will leave our planet immediately; such sabotage is not tolerated. We shall begin our assault on your vessel in 15minutes. You are advised to leave our space." The link was severed and the bridge crew stood in disbelief.

"He can't be serious? Lieutenant Paris laughed, spinning round in his chair.

"Apparently so, Harry beam the away teams back, Tom set a course away from here."

"We aren't going anywhere Commander, Seven is still down there and I will not leave a member of my crew behind. Onscreen." The Commander jumped slightly at his Captains voice, having not heard her enter the bridge.

"Captain, you heard them, they are going to open fire on us, the best thing would be to leave and come back for Seven later."

"There will be no later; she'll be dead and I will not leave her to die alone, Tuvok charge weapons and raise shields." She snapped, settling into her command chair with determination etched into her features.

"Charging weapons, shields raised."

"Kathryn, think about this, we have one ship against their home planet." He tried to make her see sense but failed miserably.

"I have thought about it. Now sit down and help or get off my bridge." Giving in for the time being, he sat next to her, as she watched the Sienn ship on the viewscreen.

"They are firing Captain." She heard Tuvok as the ship tilted hard to the left.

"Return fire!"

Harry checked his console, "Direct hit Captain, their secondary systems are offline." There were another few blasts, the ship tilting slightly.

"Shields down to 78% Captain" Tuvok called, returning fire.

"Captain another five ships are coming from the surface, they appear to be heavy cruisers." Ensign Kim looked back at the screen, "Sorry, Captain it's now fifteen," he corrected.

"Kathryn, we can't win against sixteen ships." She looked at her Commander, knowing he was right. She felt the ship rock again, this time bombarded with multiple ship's fire.

"Shields down to 59%"

"I can't leave her Chakotay." She argued fiercely, not wanting to admit defeat.

"We'll come back." He promised, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Shields down to 44%, we've lost power to weapons, rerouting through secondary plasma relays."

She ran her fingers over the commbadge nestled in her left palm then nodded to Tom who was waiting expectantly. "Warp 4."


	13. Loss

The repairs were well underway, expertly run by her fiery Klingon Chief Engineer and despite knowing that the repairs couldn't be going any faster Captain Janeway still found herself sitting in her ready room desperately checking the time every one or two minutes. 'A couple of hours at best' the Doctor had said. She checked the digital display again, 14:22 they had just under an hour to get Seven to sickbay before...**before what Kathryn? Before it's too late to tell the person you love that you're sorry. Before it's too late to tell her you have always loved her and want to be with her more than anything in the world? **She banished the thoughts from her head; she had to focus. Once they had Seven she could make up for it all. Tell her everything. She couldn't stop the small smile that she felt curling round her lips at the thought of being with Seven. She could only hope the young Borg could forgive her. She stole another glance and shifted position slightly, 14:24; it was going to be a long wait.

Half an hour passed as if it was a year until her commbadge finally came to life.

"Torres to the Captain"

"Janeway here" she answered eagerly. She stood and made her way to the bridge.

"The repairs are complete Captain, we're good to go."

"Understood." The door separating her ready room from the bridge hissed open as she approached it.

"Tom, warp six."

"Aye Captain." He swivelled back round to the conn console as she sank into her command chair. "Heading?" He asked, grinning over his shoulder. She glared at him forcefully; now was not the time for his jokes and he hastily turned back to his console to input the Sienn Homeworld into the navigational computer. Within seconds they were cruising at warp 6 with an ETA of 4 minutes. The Captain tapped the side of her chair, she had never really been one for waiting patiently, always looking for ways she could speed things up. However, besides exiting via the nearest airlock and pushing there was really nothing she could do and it frustrated her. She heard a half stifled chuckle to her left and turned to face her Commander intent on an annoyed glare but instead found she too gave a lopsided grin at her own behaviour. His face was reassuring and despite his laughing at her she felt a surge of fondness for him.

"She'll be alright." He said quietly so the curious ears of the bridge officers could not pick up their conversation. "If anyone was going to walk out from a cave-in it would be her. She's got all the resilience of the Borg and the luck of her Captain all rolled in to one. I'd be surprised if she wasn't standing outside the tunnel angrily waiting for us to pick her up." He continued with a quick squeeze of her shoulder, "I hope you've made the right decision now Kathryn."

"I have." She replied and immediately regretted it as she felt her cheeks burn a deep crimson and observed the silly almost proud smile on his face.

Thankfully their arrival at the Sienn Homeworld spared her any further questions from him.

"Sensors show no Sienn ships in the vicinity Captain." Ensign Kim's voice informed her from somewhere over her left shoulder.

"Well at least that's one thing in our favour. Harry hail the planet." A Sienn figure appeared on the viewscreen moments later.

"Captain you were told to leave. I suggest you continue on your way home." He made a movement as if to disconnect communications.

"Wait!" She shouted desperately, quickly rushing ahead. "One of my crewmembers is still on your planet. I wish only to get her back then we will leave your space. She was injured in the cave-in and trapped inside the rubble."

"Ah yes, the metal-woman..." the lizard paused to pick something out of his teeth, "I'm afraid she didn't make it. We dug her out but she was bleeding too heavily, she didn't last the journey to our medical facility." A disbelieving silence fell over the bridge officers. Despite having one of the most dangerous careers available, it was still always a surprise when death reared its ugly head. It happened from time to time, reminding them all that Starfleet did not mean invincible regardless of how powerful one felt whilst wearing the uniform. None of them though had ever really thought that this would affect Seven; she was Borg and stronger than any of them. It was Commander Chakotay who regained composure first, carefully avoiding glancing at his Captain not wanting to see that level of pain, he addressed the Sienn.

"We take it her body is to be returned to us? We would like to perform our traditional funeral ceremony." His voice was surprisingly even, despite the heaviness settling in his chest.

"I'm sorry we already performed our own...how did you put it?...funeral ceremony. As per our traditions her body was burned and the remaining mass was disposed of. We offer our condolences; it is always hard to lose someone in your command. You may take time to grieve before leaving our space if you wish." With that he signed off and the viewscreen was empty.

"You have the bridge Commander, I'll be in sickbay." Janeway stood and walked to the turbo lift. She felt disembodied as if she was watching herself walk, though without properly seeing. She noticed she wasn't crying, that no doubt would come later. Once it had settled in that she would never get the chance to call Seven her own. She would never again get to feel the gentle intimate pressure of the blonde's lips on her own or even get to see that wonderful rare smile again.

She walked through the sickbay doors, eyes skipping over the vacant biobed, to the one that was occupied. Ensign Green sat up as she approached swinging her legs over the side of the bed with only the slightest hint of pain showing on her face. Their eyes met and instantly the Ensign knew.

"No...she...no" Tears sprang up instantly, rolling down the astrometrics officers cheeks before she could even try to stop them. They held each other close, a new found bond forming in their shared grief. The Captain finally felt her own tears begin to spill over her face, unlike the quiet sobs escaping from the young Ensign she remained silent in her sorrow. She had spent too long hiding her emotions from the crew, as a career officer you had to be removed from your emotions at times to cope and as the years went by it was harder and harder to drop the defensive wall.

The Doctor watched the two women from his office, hanging back respectively. He had been present at the loss of many of Voyagers crew but it didn't get any easier. Then he remembered the duty he now had to do, with a great sadness. He made his way over to his desk and opened up the personnel files, updating Sevens information.

* * *

A week had passed since they had lost Seven and as a symbol of respect Voyager had orbited the planet for the duration of the mourning period. The entire crew was working in skeleton shifts, just the bare minimum of personnel on duty at any time to allow everyone the chance to pay their respects. They were due to resume the course for home in 2 hours and the senior officers were gathered in the mess hall for a last farewell to Seven.

The Commander cleared his throat loudly and stood up from his position at the table they were gathered round.

"I think as our final act of saying goodbye it would be nice for us to say something to Seven, maybe something you forgot to say or meant to say but could never bring yourself to. I know there are plenty of things I should have said, including this. Seven, I never really bonded with you as well as I should have as your commanding officer and I feel I let you down slightly on that respect. I want you to know though that I admired you greatly and I think you turned into a fine young woman, you did the Doctor proud." With that he gave a small smile and sat down giving someone else their turn. Harry Kim was the next to stand.

"Seven, I really enjoyed working with you, you taught me a lot. I'm gonna admit now that you scared me a little sometimes but that's just who you were I know you didn't mean anything by it." He laughed nervously, remembering when she had first come aboard and discovered his little crush on her. "But yeah, I'll miss you, sorry you won't get to see Earth." He sat down awkwardly and Tom patted him on the back. B'Elanna pushed her chair back and stood.

"Seven, I have to admit I didn't really like you when you first came aboard. You were argumentative, bossy and thought you were always right and there were times when I wanted to hit you so hard you wouldn't ever bother me again. However, I now realise that the reason I didn't like you was because you were just as bossy and argumentative as me. Who would have thought the Klingons and the Borg would have something to bond over?" There was a pause as a small ripple of laughter made its way round the table, she smiled and continued, "Maybe I should have taken more time to get to know you. You were a good engineer Seven and I would have you in my Engineering team any day." The next to stand was the Doctor.

"Seven, I am so proud of how far you have come. I know it was difficult transitioning into humanity from a lifetime as a Borg Drone but you performed admirably. You were an extremely bad patient but I can think of someone else who is just as frustrating as you were," he shot a glance at the Captain who smiled half-heartedly; it was true. "Despite that though I enjoyed getting to know you and I enjoyed watching you grow into the woman you are now." Tuvok stood as the Doctor returned to his seat.

"Seven you were a valued member of this crew and shall be sorely missed. Your methodical approach and dedication was almost Vulcan in its execution."

"High praise indeed," laughed Tom Paris as he stood to take over, "It seems to me that everyone forgot the most important thing that should be said to you Seven. You are...were... one hot woman and I shall certainly miss seeing you in that catsuit." There was a pause as B'Elanna glared at her other half and everyone else cringed at his inappropriateness. They didn't really mind though as they knew humour was just how Tom diffused situations when he felt uncomfortable. "Seriously though, I will miss you and I'm sure the rest of the crew will too." Neelix rose to take his place as Tom sat down.

"As Chief morale officer, I shall try to keep the crews spirits up but it won't be easy Seven. As a one-time newcomer to Voyager myself I know how hard it is to settle in but I think you did a remarkable job. My only regret is that I wish I had managed to prise you off those nutritional supplements and onto my cooking. It would have been a lot better for you...well I guess that's it. Goodbye Seven. Captain I believe you are the last one." Everyone now turned their attention to Janeway and waited expectantly for a lengthy speech this however was not what they got. After a long moment she stood up and faced the stars, looking up slightly.

"I love you" She half-whispered into the void of space, painfully aware that Seven would never get to hear her admit it.

* * *

It was the first time she had heard footsteps since being put into this room; her food just appeared in front of her by some sort of transportation technology. She stood, getting up from the bunk where she had been sat propped up against the wall. She was getting tired, all she had been able to do the past two days was lie on the bunk; she needed to regenerate. The door opened revealing a gray well lit corridor stretching ahead but blocking the view slightly was a member of the Sienn species.

"Ah Seven, I see you have eaten today," he indicated to the empty tray on the table, "Good. Now if you will follow me we have much to discuss."

* * *

**Sorry about the wait, please review if you can find the time :-) xSJx**


	14. Hope

**Authors Note:- **Sorry about the LONG wait, I lost this chapter (the original) and i kept trying to re-write it but it just plain sucked. Anyway long story short, recently i was moving some stuff around and noticed some paper at the bottom of a pile that turned out to be my original version of this chapter. so i have typed it up and here it us, unchanged. Hope you enjoy it. Also just to clarify Sevens storyline is behind in time from the rest of the crew, but the timelines all join up in the next chapter :) xsjx

* * *

"Take a seat Seven." The lizard gestured to the chair on his right hand side. She assumed from the important looking pins on his uniform he was the Sienn Commander. She obliged silently but in a small act of defiance chose the seat two down from him at the grey table.

"Would you like something to eat? Drink?" He smiled as he asked though it was a poorly masked façade of false emotion.

"No. I require nothing." Even as she said it, the young Borg knew it wasn't true. She did need something, her alcove; she was getting tired and her vision, movement and higher brain function was rapidly deteriorating. Her hand subconsciously moved to rub her brow.

"Nothing? Really? Not even your alcove?" His smile was firmer now, he had seen her tired gesture and knew he had a valuable bargaining chip in his possession. "It's been two days since we pulled you out of that tunnel, long time to go without regenerating…."

The blonde drone remained silent, watching carefully. The Sienn commander laughed and clapped his hands together.

"I like you; you're resilient, like us. I'm going to tell you straight. We have something you need. You have something we need. It makes sense to trade doesn't it?"

"It would appear so." She admitted grudgingly. She needed her strength for any hope of getting back to voyager.

"Your species, The Borg, paid us a visit just under 5 years ago. They nearly destroyed our world, assimilated over half our population. We were a crippled shell of a race and up until now we have only been able to regain a mere shadow of our former strength. Yet the other species nearby that we used to dominate know we are still weak and raid us every so often to take what they want and keep our strength from growing."

"You have failed to explain what this has to do with me" Seven said dryly, a little bored of the commanders' story-telling.

"You will help us enhance our weapons and defence systems with borg technology. There is a wreck of a cube just south of here. The Borg abandoned it when they left. We have the parts, you have the knowledge, and there are alcoves in that cube. You can't escape, in case the thought was crossing your scheming Borg mind. We told your ship you were dead and your crew will orbit this planet for a further five days, some symbol of mourning I don't really understand," he waved his hand disinterestedly before continuing, "You will be allowed to touch the cubes systems after they have gone. For the meantime you will regenerate under armed guard. Any tricks and you will be shot. Do you understand?"

"I will comply." A look of relief crossed the Sienn's face; he had expected more of a fight from her. Perhaps she understood how she had no choice in the matter if she wanted to live.

As she was led from the room by a Sienn guard she allows herself a small wry smile; it didn't matter if the Voyager crew had already departed. Seven knew the moment she laid her hands on a console on that cube she had all she needed to escape and catch up. Resilient wasn't even close.

* * *

It was the day after they had set off from the Sienn homeworld and Ensign Green was still recovering in sickbay, albeit reluctantly. If it had been her decision she would have been back in astometrics by now despite the occasional twinges in her ribcage and spine. She was getting increasingly bored and annoyed at her bland view of the ceiling in sickbay but she was even more annoyed that she had missed the funeral ceremony for Seven at the Doctors insistence while he made sure there would be no long lasting spinal damage. Apparently having Seven fall on you was enough to break your back in 2 places. So while everyone else had had a whole week to grieve as a family she had only the doctor for company, the occasional visit from Beth and one rather awkward visit from Sandra. It could have been worse though, she conceded to herself; the Sienn could have begrudged them the time to grieve and forced them from their space. Out of nowhere, another voice popped into her head, **why didn't they? **For a race that disliked relations with other species they have been awfully accommodating. **Almost too accommodating. **She found it hard to believe they had even the slightest bit of compassion for others; it just didn't feel right.

With a small grunt of pain she pushed herself up off the biobed. The brunette had almost made it to the door of sickbay before the EMH noticed.

"Ensign where do you think you are going?" He said sternly tricorder at the ready.

"I have to see the captain, I'm fine Doctor."

"Ah yes I forgot that the definition of fine means something different to Starfleet officers than it does to the rest of the universe. Ensign Green you have fractures in your ribs and spine. You are not fine."

"I'm fine enough, I'll come back later so you can check on me." She called, already halfway down the corridor. The trick was to not stop moving; once you stopped the doctor usually got you back on a biobed.

* * *

Stepping out onto the bridge, she noticed her ribcage and back was throbbing continuously with a dull ache. **Ok so maybe I'm not fine…**

"Ensign? Is there a problem?" The Captain had turned round in her command chair upon hearing the doors of the turbo-lift slide open and had immediately taken in the tense nature of the young officers stance. "Shouldn't you be in sickbay?"

"I was Captain, then it occurred to me. We've just spent a week orbiting the Sienn homeworld." She saw the confusion on the Captains face and hurried to explain herself. "It's just they didn't make the best first impression did they? They are obviously an aggressive species yet suddenly they are kind and compassionate. They couldn't get rid of us quickly enough before then they let us stay for seven days!"

"What's your point Ensign?" Chakotay chipped in, also puzzled by the younger officers rambling.

"I…um.." she sighed inwardly knowing the reason of 'It just doesn't feel right' wasn't going to cut it. Then the pieces clicked in to place through the fogginess created by her painkillers and it dawned on her.

"Seven is still alive" she blurted out then immediately wishing she hadn't. The Captains face hardened in an automatic reflex to the pain she felt whenever anyone mentioned the Borg's name.

"Go back to sickbay Ensign, get some rest. I think you are still under the influence of some strong medication." Janeway said this quietly but grimly, dismissing Lara. The young woman turned without a word and left the bridge. The Captain turned back to face the viewscreen ignoring the sideways glances from Chakotay.

* * *

"Ensign?" Lara looked up in surprise at her visitor, slightly confused as to what he could want with her. She was once again back on her biobed, admitting defeat where her pain was concerned.

"Hey Harry, what do you want?" she smiled pleasantly.

"I couldn't help overhearing you on the bridge this morning," she cringed inwardly at how she had embarrassed herself, as he paused slightly, "thing is," he continued, "It makes sense. It's like they had a personality transplant."

"Harry it doesn't matter anyway. Even if she was alive, she needs her alcove. She has been without it for at least seven days…" She tailed off letting the unpleasant thought sink in.

"Lara what do you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you were close to her…do you think she is dead?"

"No. I don't. I don't know what it is I just have this feeling she isn't gone."

"I don't think she is either. It's too hard to believe. She's just-"

"Too Borg." The two Ensigns jumped as the Captain finished his sentence having not heard her enter sickbay.

Lara opened her mouth to apologise "Captain I-" Janeway held up her hand cutting off the apology.

"Ensign, there is probably only a small chance she is alive. But I feel it too, and as Captain there are three things I was told to remember: Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew. Now I have to give credit to Seven, she is a survivor. We're going back Ensign, let's just hope our gut instincts are right.

"Yes ma'am." They replied in unison.

* * *

"Kathryn do you really think this is wise? Sending the crew on a wild goose chase for Seven just because Ensign Green planted the seed of the ridiculous idea she was still alive in your head while she was pumped full of medication?" Commander Chakotay said harshly, able to voice his opinion in the privacy of her ready room. He didn't agree with this ridiculous rescue attempt. He accepted that it must have been hard for her to lose Seven in the way she did, not able to properly explain herself or say sorry but it didn't stop him thinking that this was a waste of time.

"Chakotay, if there is even a small chance she is alive. I have to look in to it. If it was you down there on that planet, I'm sure you would want us to come back for you." She said pointedly.

"But you are getting your hopes up. We had our time to grieve and now you are undoing all of that. Now when we go back and she isn't alive, which by the way is the only possibility because she isn't immortal; we all have to go through it again when we don't find her."

"IF we don't find her," she corrected petulantly. He made a small exasperated sound, losing patience.

"Kathryn be reasonable. Even if she survived the cave-in and the Sienn lied about cremating her, she doesn't have an alcove anyway! Also why would the Sienn lie, how would it possibly benefit them?"

"She may not be immortal Chakotay but she is Borg and that's as close as it gets. As for the Sienn, I don't trust them, didn't from the start. Ensign Green was right about their sudden change of personality. I abandoned Seven romantically, through my own self-flagellation, then again through my despair at losing her and Ensign Green was the only one to think anything of it. I have a chance now to rectify everything and God damn it I'm going to take it."

"You can't send this crew off on a whim just because you feel guilty about the way you treated her. She's dead! Give up Captain, or you are going to make it worse. We have already said goodbye."

"Maybe you have, but I'm not ready to face life without her yet." Her voice having kept its strength so far, finally began to break as she felt the tears advance. She couldn't continue home without her, she wanted to share Earth with Seven not with memories of her. The Commander felt his manner soften and moved to put his arm around his Captain. The gentle hug was too much and the tears spilled over, running down her face. He kissed the top of her head and whispered what she wanted to hear even if he didn't believe it himself.

"We'll find her."


	15. The Plan

**AN: Hey decided to put Chapter 15 up quickly seeing as some people have already read chapter 14 :) for which i thank you :) hope you enjoy this chapter, please review if you find the time, let me know what you think/if you have any ideas/suggestions. Thanks again. xsjx**

* * *

Seven of Nine disliked the Sienn commander greatly. He had come especially to be there when she had reawakened from a regeneration cycle this morning to tell her gleefully that yesterday her crew had departed unaware that they were leaving her behind. The smug smirk that lay on his face sparked anger inside her but in a display of complete control, that her Captain would have been proud of, she had merely gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to move her clenched fist from her side to have it connect with his jaw. She reminded herself that today was the day she finally got her hands on a Borg console, her means to escape.

The Sienn Commander hadn't been wrong when he had described the cube as a wreck. Although she had only really seen one corridor, the one she was in, lined with alcoves she could tell it was in a bad way. It seemed that three quarters of the cube had been destroyed with the remaining quarter having a complete lack of any useful functionality. No wonder it had been abandoned when the Borg had left.

"Seven, I want you to focus on our planetary defence first, we do have a two-way detection grid in place but what use is an early warning system against many ships? I want a strong shield to surround our planet, this will buy us time to enhance other systems. Then I want you to work on our ships weapons so once they have wasted their weapons on our shield we can come out fighting in a strong counter attack." He rubbed his hands together as if already envisioning victory. Sevens contempt was evident in her face but she nodded silently. She would not help him, she was no-ones to use as a mindless worker. Janeway had freed her from that life in the collective and she had to admit she had grown accustomed to the freedom on Voyager. Yes there were rules that at times seemed pointless but she got to execute her own ideas and thoughts. She felt a pang of loss as memories of the crew flooded back, ones of her Captain in particular. Despite the rejection she still longed to see the older woman, to experience her warm smile and intelligent conversation. She sighed as it crossed her mind that the Captain probably did not miss these things about her.

As the Sienn Commander left after giving her a data padd with information concerning their weapons and defence systems and a detailed list of quite frankly fanciful improvements she felt the butt of a weapon press against her back.

"Come on." One of her guards muttered firmly, the slightly taller of the two. That's when she heard it in his voice. The fear, just bubbling below the surface. Allowing herself a quick look at her guards she noticed their nervous mannerisms, they were clutching their guns tightly, their eyes flicking around the dark corridor as if looking out for drones. She had not considered that she would have been offered another advantage besides her intimate knowledge of the Borg systems and their lack of it. She could use their fear against them she just had to figure out how.

Under the ever watchful eyes of her guards she accessed a Borg console trying to ascertain what systems she could use to her advantage. She scrutinised the information, there was plenty of power at her disposal; this quarter of the cube had two still functioning warp cores but sadly a lack of systems available to use this power. Weapons were the best functioning system with torpedos offline though she still had main weapons beams including the tractor beam and cutting beam as well as the normal weapon beams. However, shields were down and it appeared the generator had been destroyed. Long range sensors were offline but she had tracked the problem down to a plasma relay three floors above their current location, it seemed that plasma relay also had the ability to relay signals. Life support was functioning adequately.

"What are you doing?" The taller guard spoke again aggression covering a hint of panic. She could tell he did not trust her. Well she conceded, he was right not to.

"I am merely assessing the ships systems in order to see what resources I have available to help me improve your systems." She answered curtly. "I need to access a plasma relay three floors from here."

"Why?" The other guard questioned suspiciously.

"I believe that repairing it could restore power to the shields of this cube which with a few adaptions I could make into a full planetary shield and as I am sure you remember it is difficult to penetrate Borg shields as they adapt to weapons quickly." She saw them look at each other. Yes, they indeed remembered this fact. They remembered their ships frantically trying to remodulate their weapons but to no prevail as the Borg cubes kept adapting in unison.

"Did you lose family to the Borg?" she asked directly, steering the conversation quickly away from what the plasma relay did in case they realised she was lying.

"Yes, my parents and sister." The smaller guard answered while the larger one remained silent.

"I lost my parents too. They are still part of the collective."

"What was it like? Being part of the collective." He asked curiously. He was the weak link out of the two of them she could tell. He seemed younger, more naïve and most definitely less aggressive. She could use this.

"You were never alone. You could always hear the rest of the collective. It took me a while to get used to being alone." She responded with a slight smile trying to appear reassuring.

"Enough talk, where is this power relay?" The larger guard interjected impatiently. He wanted to get out of this cube as fast as possible. The dark grey features with eerie green lighting unnerved him.

Seven looked over the schematic of the cube on the console.

"Follow me." She said simply and started walking. The guards remained approximately two metres behind her for the duration of their short trip. Weapons at the ready just in case she tried to run or worse attack them.

It took her about quarter of an hour once they arrived at the plasma relay to get it back online. Now she had long range sensors and the ability to send a signal. She performed a quick scan of the area, trying to see just how far her ship had gone. Her eyes eagerly swept over the results. There right on the edge of the sensors reach was Voyager. She noted with a surge of joy that the ship was heading back in the direction of the Sienn homeworld, though they were still a day away. She wondered why they were heading back but then shook her head; it did not matter. All that mattered is that in about 16 hours she would have a chance to escape. However, to ensure her success she needed to let them know she was safe. Seven peered over her shoulder at the two guards both watching her intently; a video or audio message was out of the question. She needed to send something else, a written message that could be easily interpreted as being off her by her crew but that would be disregarded by the Sienn as tactically unimportant if intercepted by one of their vessels. She looked over the specification of the two-way detection grid on the padd in her hand, every 11 seconds it cut out for 0.14 seconds, probably the result of some flaw in the system that powered it. Seven mused upon her finding if she could get her signal out in that short gap it would escape detection, but if she made a mistake then she would probably be shot as she suspected that the Sienn Commander would be true to his word. Once her crew knew she was there she had no doubt they would locate her. The cube was the perfect place to hide from the Sienn and wait for her crew, she just needed to get rid of the guards but as she reminded herself, she had 16 hours to work on that.

Based on the speed of the transmission of the signal from the Borg cube she calculated she needed to hit send precisely 2 seconds before the detection grid cut off for its 0.14second interval, any earlier and she would hit the grid any later and the same thing would occur. She smiled to herself slightly as she typed her message. Eight seconds until the detection grid cut out…seven…six…five….fo-

"Hey! What are you doing?" The guard reached for her arm knocking her ever so slightly off balance but it was enough. Her finger connected with the button just as the countdown in her head reached three.

* * *

The crew of Voyager were currently 16 hours from the Sienn homeworld. No one had said anything as the Captain had changed their course, though most of the crew agreed with Chakotay that it was a wild goose chase. They went about their duties as normal allowing the Captain to explore her gut instinct.

On the bridge they worked in silence, all aware of the nervous energy emanating from their Captain. They looked up from their consoles in unison when they heard the beep of an incoming message from the ops console.

Harrys brow furrowed in confusion. Surely his eyes were mistaken, something must be wrong with the sensors.

"Captain?"

"Yes Harry?" She inquired from her chair on the bridge.

"We've received a message from the Sienn Homeworld"

"Onscreen Harry." She wondered what they wanted now, probably to know why they were heading back towards their planet.

"Captain firstly it's a typed message only, no audio or video and secondly it has a Borg signature."

"Borg? Show me." The words that appeared on the screen made her heart soar. There were just three words: 'I miss you'.


	16. Success?

**A/N:- sorry for the wait. I'll try and get the next chapter up quick. Thanks to everyone for the nice reviews also ardin for giving me motivation to continue writing. Please review if you have time. Thanks again for reading. xsjx**

* * *

Seven stopped running for a second, tucking herself in to a dark cubby hole off the Borg cube corridor. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest and her lungs rapidly filling then emptying as she tried to provide her muscles with enough oxygen. **That could have gone more smoothly**, the little voice in her head reprimanded her. After the guard had knocked her arm causing her to send her message a mere second too early she had just reacted on instinct, turning swiftly to punch the more aggressive guard in the throat and take his gun. She had hesitated for a millisecond before pointing it at the smaller guard and pulling the trigger. He had been pleasant but not enough for her to risk it. A rapid shot to the larger guard who was on the floor clawing at his shattered wide-pipe, sealed his fate and she had taken off needing to hide.

"Fifteen hours." She muttered to herself in her shadowy hideout. Her crew would be here in 15 hours and 22 minutes she just had to make sure she was alive when they arrived. The Ex-Drone suspected that it would not take her long to be found by the Sienn despite their lack of knowledge about Borg technology. They didn't need advanced equipment to detect a life sign; a simple tricorder can do it and they would certainly have intercepted her message and be hunting her by now.

An idea popped into her head, she needed to buy time and for that she needed to remain hidden as long as possible. She allowed herself a slight smile, the other senior crew members had laughed at her for spending so much time reading back-dated reports of Voyger's exploits before she joined the crew, instead of joining them in the holodeck or the messhall but it was proving to be time well spent now. She recalled an incident when the crew of voyager had been left on a planet while the Kazon took the ship. Lon Suder who has been accidently left behind had used thoron particles to try and avoid detection from the Kazon, as the particles interfered with tricorder readings. It had worked for a while and the young Borg saw no reason why it wouldn't work here. She has already ascertained that life support on the cube-wreck was fully functional so she could use it to distribute the particles.

Seven peeked her head out of the shadowy hole, there was a console straight ahead across the corridor. Green light flashed intermittently over her head, illuminating her features with an emerald sheen. With a quick glance left and right she propelled herself out of the cubby hole. It took her 4.15 seconds to execute her plan, her fingers flying expertly over the console. 4.15 seconds closer to home. She returned to her cubby hole, her face set with grim determination. The young blonde had a look vaguely reminiscent of her Captain. She flexed and sat comfortably, waiting to watch her plan succeed or fail. 15 hours and 17 minutes to go.

* * *

Lara giggled as Beth Porter down next to her, a little clumsy from the wine they had been drinking and managed to drop the chocolates she had been holding. Ensign Green lent forward helping her friend pick them up, their hands touched lightly as they both reached for the last one. Lara made to pull her hand away, muttering an apology but Beth held it firmly then brought it up to her lap leaning back into the sofa. She kept a tight grip of Lara's hand and smiled at the Ensign.

"Lara, I'm so glad we are friends again. I really missed you." She said warmly.

"I missed you too Beth." Regret passed over her features and her eyes flicked away from hazel pools. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be daft, you do stupid things when you love someone. She didn't want you seeing me so you didn't. End of."

"Yeah but-" Lara tried to begin another apology but was stopped by Beth shushing her. Their fingers intertwined naturally as they had done in increasing frequency over the past few days. Beth had visited her often in sickbay and had persuaded her to celebrate her official discharge that evening. Something felt different about Beths hand and Lara looked down curiously.

"Beth, where's your ring?" she asked puzzled by its sudden removal.

"I took it off." Beth stated bluntly, though she expanded at Lara's confused look. "I just didn't see the point of it anymore. I was clinging onto something I didn't have because I was lonely but now I have my best friend back I don't need the symbol of a dead relationship on my hand."

Lara didn't quite know what to say so she just pulled her friend close and gave her a quick reassuring hug. When she pulled back Beth made a small noise that sounded like no and moved closer to Lara. They passed the rest of the evening in quiet conversation with Beth snuggled under Lara's arm, her head on the Ensigns shoulder.

* * *

1 hour 37 minutes and 24 seconds. 23. 22. 21. Seven couldn't believe it; it had worked. Eight groups of Sienn soldiers had walked right past her shadowy hiding place without any hesitation. The gap between groups 7 and 8 had been 3 hours and it had been 4 hours since the last group. They were giving up. She felt a small wave of elation rush over her; she would be home soon. Her thoughts turned to Ensign Green and she smiled, the prospect of seeing her friend again being the bright light at the end of a rather dark tunnel. She had surprised herself by how close she had gotten to Lara and was glad that she had a true friend, besides the Captain. Her mood dimmed slightly as Kathryn Janeway entered her thoughts. Seven felt slightly apprehensive about seeing her. She longed for her smile and the warm feeling that spread through her whenever their eyes met yet she still hurt from the rejection and wasn't keen on having to put herself through that pain over and over again by being around her captain.

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts; all of that would be irrelevant if she lost focus now and was caught a mere 85 minutes before being rescued. Training her mind back on the current situation Seven began to mentally run through her plan. When only 2 minutes remained until Voyagers arrival she would send an audio message to Voyager, giving them precise details of her location as to ensure a successful beam out. Seven just had to hope that Voyager could fight her way through the Sienn ships before any Sienn soldiers found her. Then again, maybe she could do more than hope, she thought to herself reassuringly. This was a Borg cube she was on after all and she was damned if she couldn't use it to her advantage. Seven exited her cubby-hole hiding place and moved to the console opposite with a silent determination.

* * *

"How long Tom?" Janeway barked from her command chair, her fingers digging tightly into the arm rests with a restless almost nervous energy.

"12 minutes, Captain" Tom replied quickly, he was also in a state of anticipation and by the look of it so was the entire bridge crew…well apart from Tuvok. Their Captains urgent manner was emanating over them and putting them all on edge.

"The Sienn are hailing us Captain" Harry Kims voice informed her from over her left shoulder.

"Onscreen." The Sienn Commander appeared on the viewscreen. He did not look pleased to see them.

"Captain," he hissed lazily, "you have returned. How nice to see you again but I'm afraid we are a tad busy at the moment so I am going to have to ask you to leave our space."

"I can't do that. See, I have reason to believe you are detaining a member of my crew and I'd like her back." The Sienn Commander opened his mouth to speak but she continued over him. "Now before this all balloons up into a big fight why don't we just settle this peacefully. You give me Seven and we will give you all the information we have in our database: weapons specifications, equipment blue prints, recipes, tactical data, literature. You name it we have it. What do you say?"

For a second, the Captain thought he was going to accept their offer but then he spoke.

"A tempting offer but I need her. I will be launching my ships now. You have been warned." With that he ended the transmission, leaving Janeway a little more than annoyed.

"Tuvok, arm the photons" she snapped, determined to show the Sienn exactly who they were dealing with.

"Captain, I feel I should point out that we were not successful against their 16 ships last time and we are unlikely to be victorious this time." Her security chief was right she knew that, but she didn't care. She had confirmation that Seven, **her Seven**, was still alive and by God she was getting her back.


	17. Jump for my love

**A/N:- okay here's another chapter for you all. hope you enjoy it. I shall try to post another shortly. Thank you for reading and a special thanks to LesbianGeek, ShadowCub, hypnos 7131 and fidaamica for reviewing the last chapter; I appreciate any and all feedback :)**

Seven was glad that the Sienn Commander had been arrogant. So self-assured in his superiority and control over her, he had given her the codes for all of the Sienn systems, not thinking she would have the opportunity to use them against him. Seven was monitoring Voyagers approach, they were less than 5 minutes from reaching the planet. She was also monitoring the activity on the planet using the cubes sensors that she had repaired earlier, the sixteen Sienn ships were launching. They were mostly harmless thanks to her disabling the secondary power relays to their weapons systems and setting their shields to become unstable meaning they would overload under heavy fire. These modifications weren't glaringly obvious so the Sienn shouldn't notice until it was too late. She had sealed the deal with a Borg encryption code that would take the crews a long time to break. As long as Janeway acted as Seven predicted and targeted the ships weapons systems once the shields were down Voyager would easily overpower the Sienn ships. She smiled coldly at no-one; you didn't mess with a Borg. Especially not one who had Kathryn Janeway as a mentor.

She readied herself and pressed a few buttons on the console.

"Voyager, this is Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of unimatrix zero one. Please respond." She stated calmly using her full title. There was an elongated pause then a familiar voice answered.

"Seven, this is your Captain. We are about to engage the Sienn. What is your situation?" Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of her Captains voice. The longing re-awakened stronger than before and she felt the ache of desire settle in her chest.

"My physical and mental functions are within normal parameters Captain. My location is the Borg Cube wreck near the capital city. I am on the 5th floor from the top of the cube." She heard a slight chuckle over the commline but didn't understand what was funny. She had been asked for a status report and she had given one.

"Prepare for beam out once we have dealt with the Sienn. See you soon Seven." The Captains voice said warmly.

"Yes, Captain".

* * *

The sixteen Sienn ships had launched and were making a beeline for Voyager. Any other Captain might have found the situation a little daunting but Kathryn Janeway was acting as if this was an everyday occurrence, which to be fair it pretty much was.

"Tom evasive manoeuvres, pattern gamma alpha 3" The adrenaline was coursing through her. It was moments like these that made her glad she had never opted for a desk job; the thrill of the fight was tantalising and it was even better when the end result promised so much for her personally. She heard a deep chuckle from her left and turned already rolling her eyes at Chakotay.

"What?" she asked more gruffly then she had intended.

"Nothing." Chakotay smiled smugly. "Bet you're made up that you get to play the hero. How romantic; a dramatic rescue followed by a tender exchange of looks and a big kiss. If you listen closely you can almost hear Seven saying my hero."

She swatted at his arm and sent him a quick death glare, but couldn't help but smile at his big grin.

"They are charging weapons Captain." Tuvoks voice stated calmly from her right. She prepared herself, taking a deep breath.

"Raise shields. Red alert. Fire phasers as soon as they attack us Tuvok" The lights dimmed slightly and red pulsating light shone intermittently over the bridge crew.

The ship rocked heavily to one side as 4 of the Sienn ships fired in unison.

"Shields down to 88%"

"Fire the photons Tuvok, full spread." The Captain barked at her security officer. Balls of destructive orange energy left their torpedo bays and crashed into the sides of 5 of the Sienn ships. Voyagers phasers followed in an offensive sweep.

"Direct hit, Captain, the five ships we fired upon have lost shields."

"Target their weapons arrays." Janeway shouted as she and her second in command were thrown from their command chairs when the remaining Sienn ships opened fire. She picked herself up and scrambled back to the chair, Chakotay following suit.

"Their weapons have been disabled."

"Fire photons at their other ships." Once again their photon torpedos made contact with Sienn shields followed by maximum bursts from the phaser banks. The remaining 11 ships lost their shields. Their weapons arrays were promptly disabled. The Sienn ships lay dormant as repair crews were hurriedly dispatched. The Captain sat silently for a moment then spoke in a slightly confused manner.

"Was it just me or did anyone else think that was too easy?" Tuvok cocked an eyebrow and said in his usual reserved tone.

"Indeed. It was not especially challenging."

Janeway shrugged it off, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Harry, get a lock on Seven when Tom moves us into transporter range then we can finally be on our way with all our crew members safely aboard."

"Yes ma'am."

Kathryn Janeway watched the Sienn planet get bigger on the viewscreen as they approaced and allowed herself a sigh of relief. With no incoming hails from the planet or the ships it looked like they were being ignored and allowed to retrieve Seven.

* * *

The Sienn Commander was seething; that Borg bitch has betrayed him and now his ships were being beaten by one measly vessel. He hoped his men got to her before her ship did, she was going to pay for this. When they had intercepted her transmission to her ship she had given them her location. He had immediately dispatched a squadron of his finest men with orders to retrieve her alive, if a bit ruffled up and worse for wear.

His men climbed the floors of the Borg cube until they arrived at the 5th floor from the top. Their leader signalled for them to spread out and the search began. The cube made the Sienn uneasy, it reminded them of awful times in their lives when they had lost those close to them. They hated the eerie darkness and the green light that to them was synonymous with evil, but nevertheless they had a job to do. There was the sound of a dozen weapons charging and then 4 sub groups of 3 men each went their separate ways.

Seven tapped her fingers impatiently against the console waiting for her beam out. She hated relying on others but she had done all she could and all she could do now was wait. Seven stopped tapping as she heard a faint noise of people approaching. She listened intently for a few tense seconds before her suspicions were confirmed.

The Sienn were here. Grabbing the weapon she had acquired early she readied it and pointed it down the corridor. Three uniform clad lizard shaped figures came around the corner and the ex-borg fired. Two of them collapsed to the ground instantly, the third brought his open weapon up but his shot was interrupted by a sudden pain radiating from his stomach. He fell against an alcove and slid slowly to the floor.

Seven turned on her heels and ran quickly along the corridor away from the sound. She heard loud shouts behind her and the sound of heavy boots hitting the metal floor and weapons fire flew over her right shoulder. Hunching over instinctively she continued running allowing herself a quick backwards glance. There were three more Sienn soldiers behind her. Up ahead of her stretched a long corridor with a left turn branching off in the middle. Left or straight on she asked herself. As it turned out the decision was made for her as three more of the Sienn rounded the corner at the top of the corridor. The soldiers ahead of her shouted and raised their weapons, firing just as Seven reached the left turn and flung herself round it.

Disappointment rushed over her in waves as she saw what lay ahead of her. She had about 100 metres of corridor then open air where the rest of the cube had been destroyed during the battle that had grounded it. The jagged edges of the metal walls, floor and ceiling marked the beginning of a very high drop. Seven could hear the Soldiers behind her, they were close.

She made the most logical decision she could in the nanoseconds that she had to think. If she was caught she would never see her Captain again she was sure of it and she yearned for the older woman's touch. Putting her faith in her fellow crew members, Sevens legs started to move again, gaining momentum as she broke into a fast sprint. She reached the edge of the cube and jumped.


	18. A Fresh Start?

**A/N:- Firstly thank you for reading and especially to those who have taken the time to review my story (fidaamica, shadowcub, hypnos7131, lala3025, Ithinkivbrokenit and ****DY). It really means a lot and definitely drives me to finish this fic (finally...). Secondly, I apologise for this chapter, it's not quite finished but I'm going to****Prague for new years eve for a week and I'm not taking my laptop...soooo not wanting to leave you guys in the lurch over new years I though I would at least ****upload something for you. I promise the good stuff will happen in the next chapter :) Thirdly, hope you all had a lovely christmas and have an amazing new****year's. As usual reviews would be kindly and gratefully received :)**

* * *

They were within transporter range, had been for a good 3 minutes so why wasn't Harry beaming Seven aboard Janeway wondered. Frowning slightly she turned to face her operations officer.

"Harry what is taking so long?" she finally asked curiously.

"Sorry Captain I'm having trouble getting a lock. She appears to be running." His features took on a puzzled yet determined expression as his fingers moved deftly over his console.

"Running?"

"Yes ma'am" He continued to press buttons urgently, going past maximum power output on the sensors and transporter systems, trying to get a lock. "Almost there…" he muttered more to himself than anything. His face took on a shocked look.

"She's jumped off the cube."

"What?!" Shrieked Janeway. "Beam her aboard! Now Harry!

"I'm trying." He replied, a panicked urgent tone to his voice. An extremely tense moment passed that felt like minutes, the whole of the bridge was silent watching their Captain and Harry then the Captain spoke.

"Did you get her?" she asked quietly, both wanting and not wanting to know the answer in equal measures. She couldn't come this close to having Seven back in her life and then lose out at the last moment.

"Er…." He pressed a few buttons on his console and there was a pregnant pause. "Yes, transporter room 2." Relief cascaded over Janeway, and she let out the breath she hadn't even noticed she had been holding. She was in the turbo lift before she realised her legs were moving and her feet moved impatiently from side to side as the doors slid shut and she waited for it to deliver her to her destination. **Has this lift always been this slow? **

In a matter of minutes Kathryn Janeway was propelling herself through the doors of transporter room 2. A figure in a purple biosuit lay face down across multiple transporter pads.

"Seven." Whispered the Captain, her heart sinking. She crossed the room and reached out slowly and deliberately with her hands, gently turning the young woman so she was on her back. She pushed wisps of blonde hair out of the ex-drones face and her fingers met a warm sticky substance on Sevens scalp. She pulled her fingers away and glanced at them, they were coated with bright red blood. She moved her fingers to Sevens jugular feeling for a pulse. Her own heartbeat quickened in excitement as she felt a strong and steady pulse. On closer inspection of the transporter pads she found a slight dent covered in tarry drying blood. She felt her body relax. It appeared Seven had suffered a slight impact with the transporter pad, knocking her out due to the velocity she had achieved during her fall not being fully slowed by the transportation process.

"Oh Seven." The Captain breathed, as she held the unconscious borg tight to her chest. "I've missed you so much." She felt the woman in her arms stir and loosened her grip moving her back so she could see her face. Sevens eyes opened for a split second and went wide in surprise when she saw Janeway sat with her. A smile crossed her lips before she drifted back into unconsciousness, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'I knew you would catch me'.

The Captain placed a tender kiss on the blondes' forehead then stood and straightened her uniform before bending again to scoop up the younger woman into her arms. The determined older woman then proceeded to carry her to sickbay despite knowing full well that she would get teased for it later.

* * *

Lara signed off her terminal lazily and glanced around astrometrics before she left. She missed Sevens presence; the space seemed empty and lifeless without her. Though it wouldn't be long now she surmised, until Seven was back criticizing the state that the young Ensign had let astrometrics get in. Lara swore she couldn't see anything wrong with it but no doubt the Borg perfectionist would have something to say. She felt a warm smile tugging at the corners of her mouth; it seemed she actually missed the admonishments that were uttered frequently by her colleague. With a final glance she turned and left the room. She felt her stomach rumble, telling her it was unsatisfied with its contents or rather lack thereof.

"Lara to Beth Porter"

"Hey you." Came the friendly reply through her combadge.

"Hello, I was just wondering if you fancied something to eat? I'm starving and was about to head to the messhall."

"Yeah actually I haven't eaten yet but I reaaaaally don't fancy getting dressed today. Why don't you come to my quarters?" Ensign Green paused uncertainly; had she just heard what she thought she had?

"Er Beth…are you asking me to come to your quarters so we can eat while you just sit there naked?" There was a loud burst of laughter then her friend replied in teasing sultry tones.

"What if I am?" Lara ignored the quickening of her heartbeat at that comment. **No way Green, don't even think about it, **she chastised herself. It would do her no good to develop those feelings again.

"Hilarious Porter, now am I coming over or not and please tell me you'll be dressed when I arrive if I am."

"Yes come over and hurry up I'm starving and relax you dafty I just meant I wasn't putting uniform on. I haven't had a shift today and I have just been chilling out in my pyjamas. See you soon."

Lara laughed as their conversation ended. It was nice to feel so happy for a change. Seven was safe, Lara had her best friend back and she even had a new friend in her fellow astrometrics colleague. Sandra seemed a distant memory. She walked to Beths quarters still marvelling at how her life had suddenly seemed to fix itself. **Well…all apart from that little crush you have.**

"Lara!" A shout from behind her nudged her back to her surroundings and she noted that she was almost at Beths. She turned towards the source of the shout. Sandra jogged to catch up then slowed once she reached Lara's side, giving the ensign a quick hug that was not returned.

"What do you want?" Lara asked impatiently, not caring how rude she sounded but if Sandra had noticed her tone she didn't show it.

"How've you been?" The redhead enquired as she dipped her head and smiled coyly in a way that Lara used to find cute but now saw it for what it was: a cheap way to try and seduce someone.

"Amazing." The Ensign replied truthfully. She saw the slight disappointment enter her ex's eyes before the coy look was back. **What's the matter? Expect me to have been moping about since you left? **Lara thought cattily.

"Yeah it shows, you look really good babe." Sandra's eyes raked over the brunettes body slowly and deliberately and Lara had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, annoyed with herself for falling for this act before.

"Thank you." She replied tersely as she resumed her journey to Beth's quarters, Sandra by her side.

"Do you fancy doing something later?" The oblivious redhead continued.

"No." Came the short irritated reply. A hand grabbed Lara's arm forcing her to stop.

"Come on Lara, can we just skip this part and get onto the bit where we make up? I'm sorry for leaving you, I made a mistake. I know you still want me and I know you remember the fun we used to have." Sandra winked at her and Lara had to bite back a laugh.

"Look, I'm only going to say this once so listen up. I don't want you back. I actually think I would rather date the Doctor than go near you again. Yes the sex was good, but it's not worth the mindfuck that goes with it. You were the one who left so you only have yourself to blame. Deal with it. Now leave me alone."

Sandra's eyes narrowed coldly and her face dropped the coy smile.

"Fine, be like that but don't come crawling back to me when you change your mind." With a glare the redhead turned on her heels and left. Lara exhaled loudly and ran her hand through her hair, shrugging the conversation off she pressed the button outside Beths quarters and the doors parted almost instantly.

"Hello." She called out when she didn't immediately see Beth.

"I'm just changing into some decent clothes," her friends voice drifted from the bathroom "Seeing as the thought of me naked repulses you so much." Beths head appeared round the door sporting a big grin.

"Hey, I didn't say that." Lara protested quickly. "If you want to be naked you go right ahead but don't hold me responsible for my actions." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to pull them back in. **Shit.**

"Is that right?" Beth arched an eyebrow seductively before starting to laugh. "You should see your face." Lara laughed nervously still feeling a bit embarrassed. She didn't want anything she said to be taken the wrong way and to screw anything up. She'd have to be more careful, she didn't want Beth becoming uncomfortable with her presence. **She didn't seem embarrassed though**, the small voice in Lara's head piped up, **maybe she…**No. Thinking like that was stupid. Beth was straight and that was the end of it.

* * *

"Captain, please leave and get some sleep." The EMH requested in a tone that implied he suspected he would be denied. "It's been 16 hours, she's stable and sedated and judging from the state of her when you brought her here she just needs a good rest to get her energy levels back up. Goodness knows she won't have been eating properly and I suspect her regeneration cycles were limited in supply. She is safe, you can leave her and come back in a few hours and she won't even notice."

The Captain looked up at him as he bustled about the sickbay, sorting through equipment. He stopped and met her gaze, she looked awful. There were dark circles around her eyes and deep frown lines left on her forehead from the hours of concernedly watching over Seven of Nine.

"Go and rest." He requested again, this time moving to shoo her out of the medical bay. She nodded assent begrudgingly; her limbs felt stiff with exhaustion and she had to admit the thought of her pillow was very enticing. She released the alabaster hand that she had been cradling in her own for the entire time she had been sat by Sevens side, placing it softly by the younger woman's hip. A yawn escaped from her mouth proving the Doctors point further. Holding her hands up in surrender she zombie shuffled her way out of sickbay all the way to her quarters.

The door to her quarters slid open granting her admittance. Without even bothering to turn on the lights or shed her rather grungy uniform that had adorned her body for at least 48hrs, she clambered inelegantly into her bed removing the clasps holding her hair in place and flinging them in the direction of her bedside table. Her eyes stung slightly in the way that was unique to being fatigued. She rubbed them then closed her eyelids, her head hitting the pillow spilling her auburn hair over its soft cotton surface.

Sleep descended on her rapidly for the first time in over a week. Thoughts of Seven occupied her dreams as she slept peacefully. Instead of the familiar guilt, anger and fear that normally plagued her ex-borg filled dreams, she experienced joy, lust and laughter as images of them together were produced by her imagination.

It seemed like minutes had gone by yet it had been the better part of eight hours when Kathryn Janeway found herself being woken by the Doctors voice coming through her combadge.

"Seven is waking up. Thought you would want to know."

"Thank you Doctor" came her sleepy reply as she hoisted herself upright. Excitement mixed with desire coarsed through her. The anticipation of their reunion was making her feel slightly nauseous but not in an altogether unpleasant way. She headed for her shower as her mind prepared her for all the apologising she was going to have to do.

* * *

Her sweaty palms nervously smoothed out non-existent creases in her nice clean uniform. Her hair was perfectly styled into its usual place, her uniform was crisp and her boots shiny, she looked the embodiment of the ideal, confident, leading by example Starfleet Captain. Her insides however, were churning in a way reminiscent of a cadet taking an exam they had forgotten to prepare for. Nervous wasn't even close. She felt another wave of nausea hit her and laughed at herself.

"This is ridiculous Kathy, you've fought the Borg, you've fought a giant virus all by yourself, you've beaten the Kazon and you've survived Nelix's cooking but you can't walk into sickbay." She muttered to herself. **Time to bite the bullet.** She took a deep breath, ran her hands over her uniform once more for luck and stepped into sickbay. The butterflies in her stomach started to perform somersaults and backflips when twin pools of clear light blue met her own darker ones. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen but the older woman suspected he would be within earshot; it would be unlike him to miss out on this gossip. Never dropping eye contact with eyes she could quite happily gaze into for all eternity she moved towards Seven until she was stood next to her biobed.

"Seven I-...well. I-...What I'm trying t-" She stammered out in staccato noises. Never in her life had she found apologising so hard, possibly because she hadn't ever acted quite so stupidly and hurtfully before, she reminded herself bitterly. All she wanted to do was convey one simple message to the gorgeous blonde, let her know that she was sorry and she loved her. Why was it so hard?

"Apology accepted Captain." Seven murmured from full lips, her eyes dropping from Janeways gaze to follow a slow path down her Captains angular features, coming to rest on her mouth. Janeway felt her veins flood with desire, heat coarsing through her body at that simple action and in that instant she realised her life would never be the same. She allowed herself to see the trust, the want and the love in the younger womans eyes that she had purposefully made herself blind to before, ensuring she could end their brief interlude. No more, she told herself, feeling overwhelmed at the emotions breaking free from somewhere deep inside her. I want her. I want all of her and I want to trust her with my love and my heart. She felt Sevens hands on her face, the blonde was kneeling on her biobed, wiping the tears away as they fell from her Captains eyes, she hadn't even noticed she was crying.

"I love you." She finally choked out through the tears, the final layers of the Captains cage falling away from her emotions as Seven replied.

"I love you too Captain."


	19. Invitation

'_Does anybody really listen when I speak? Or will I have to say it all again next week?' _The sultry tones of Siobhan Faheys' voice drifted around Ensign Greens' quarters as she flicked through a photo album filled with pictures from her first year at the academy. She didn't really know why she had reached for the album after her 10 hour shift in astrometrics. Something had been niggling away at her in the back of her mind, darting out of the way of any sense when she had focussed on it too much. Looking now at the pictures she had never noticed before that the majority were of her and Beth at various parties/trips out. Thinking back, no-one else from her days at the academy really stood out in the same way Beth did. Her hands stilled as she came across one particular photograph. Unsurprisingly enough herself and Beth were at the centre of the photograph, she remembered that their classmate Jack has insisted on taking a million pictures that night because he had had far too much to drink and was babbling about remembering the good times. It had been someone's birthday party, she could picture their face yet their name evaded her but she remembered that night for a reason other than the festivities. She had only gone to that party to try and get close to Lucy Finlan; the hottest blonde she had ever seen. Lara laughed as she looked more closely at the picture, in the image she wasn't looking at the camera; instead her eyes filled with the longing of a hormonal young adult were focused in the direction of the object of her desire. Lucy had been sitting at the bar just out of the picture. The Ensigns' chuckle died on her lips as quickly as it had arisen as she noticed the expression on Beths' face.

"Well I'll be damned" She whispered softly, bringing the image closer to her face as she squinted for better focus. Beth was wearing an expression that was an exact copy of Lara's but she was not looking at David who could be seen in the background talking to another cadet, instead her eyes were locked on the younger version of the Ensign sitting to her left. Lara sat back, reclining into her sofa as her mind raced to make sense of the image.

'_Hello, Hello, Turn your radio on, Is there anybody out there? _

The door chime sounded interrupting Siobhan's lyrics and jerking Lara out of her reverie.

"Come in." She called, placing the open album on the table in front of her and turning to face the door.

The door opened with a soft hiss and Seven entered the room.

"Computer mute audio" Lara said quickly as she stood up to greet her guest; excited to see the blonde Borg. The song ended abruptly mid verse and Seven gave Lara a puzzled look.

"What were you listening to?" She enquired a look on her face that told Lara she did not approve of the Ensigns eclectic music taste.

"Just an old Earth song from the 1990's, it doesn't matter." Lara replied brushing off Sevens question and enveloping her in a hug simultaneously. She felt the ex-drone hesitate slightly before returning the gesture with a gentle pressure. "How are you feeling?"

"I am functioning adequately Ensign. I don't understand why you were listening to that; the woman couldn't sing." Seven stated looking puzzled. Lara sighed; clearly Seven wasn't going to let this go.

"Seven I just like her music, it doesn't matter to me that her voice isn't perfect because I like her music for the lyrics and how it makes me feel."

"So it's about the emotional impact of what she is singing, not how she sings it?" The Borg asked with a thoughtful expression resting on her features. At Laras' nod she asked "Does that apply to conversations too?"

"Uh..sure why not?" Lara replied hesitantly and watched as Seven nodded and appeared to file away the information for later use. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" she asked, the politeness instilled into her by her mother overruling her brain that was already telling her what the answer would be.

"I do not require nourishment at this time Ensign, but thank you." Seven replied on cue. "I have come to ask your advice."

"Shoot." Lara said, plopping herself inelegantly back onto the sofa, slightly surprised when Seven sat down next her albeit much more elegantly than her.

"The Captain told me that she loved me." Seven stated matter-of-factly. Lara laughed at Sevens usual abruptness and rested her hand on the blondes, squeezing gently.

"That's a good thing. I'm really happy for you and I think she's finally ready to accept her feelings for you."

"I know it's a good thing. I just find myself unsure of what to do next." The blonde Borg faltered slightly and shot the Ensign a helpless look.

"You mean the dating thing? Kind of like a start-over?"

"Yes, I want it to be perfect for Kathryn but I don't know what to do. I don't want to let her down. I want her to know that I forgive her and that I want to be with her and that I want a proper relationship." Lara smiled gently at Sevens words; the ex-drone was being very cute and she took the colloquial reference to their captain to be a good sign.

"Seven you will be fine. I think you are over-thinking it a little bit. Why don't you take small steps? Maybe invite her out to dinner on the holodeck?"

"Dinner?" Seven whispered to herself in a confused manner, thinking things over. "That is acceptable Ensign, but only if you come with someone too so we can make it a double date as Tom Paris says. I think it would be less awkward that way and if I need your help you will be there so I can ask you."

"Seven, no." The Ensign protested quickly as her mind flashed with images of strained conversation and awkward silences between her and Captain Janeway. "I haven't even got anyone to ask and I really think it should be just you and the Captain; I don't really know her that well."

"Please Ensign?" Pleading blue eyes met her own darker ones and she sighed, feeling herself agreeing reluctantly.

"Fine, but only to steer you off inappropriate conversations. You can't ask me what to do in front of the Captain it will look daft" She said exasperatedly. "Now I have to find someone to bring…"

"Why don't you bring her?" Seven pointed to the picture of Beth and Lara at the bar. "She works on this ship does she not?"

"Seven, I can't bring Beth to a double date; she and I are just getting re-acquainted as friends. It would freak her out." **Or would it? **A more daring part of her brain spoke up, urging her to take a chance but its voice was cut off almost immediately by the more sensible and cautious rest of her consciousness.

"You are mistaken Ensign. Her face in this photograph is exhibiting clear signs of attraction towards you. Her pupils are dilated and her face is flushed and that expression is the same one you used to wear when you looked at me." Seven's bluntness about their brief interlude made Lara blush furiously though Lara was glad that the ex-drone didn't appear to notice. At the Ensigns hesitation, Seven continued "Would you like me to ask her for you?"

"No!" Lara half-shouted, then corrected herself in a calmer tone, "No thank you Seven I'm sure I'll find someone."

* * *

Seven, in her eagerness to embark on a fresh start with the Captain, had insisted that the double date be the following evening and Lara being unable to resist the pull of the nervous yet excited energy rolling off the young blonde had swiftly agreed. This had led the Ensign to her current predicament whereby she was stood outside Crewman Porters' quarters at 23:38 working up the nerve to nonchalantly ask her to go on a pretend date so that Seven wouldn't be disappointed with her. She had decided against actually asking Beth on a proper date and gone for the please do me a favour so I can do Seven a favour option. Lara pressed the buzzer for her friends' door before she changed her mind and a few minutes later a disheveled Beth Porter was stood in the doorway.

"Lara?" Beth's sleep-filled voice muttered in confusion. A hand came up to rub her hazel eyes tiredly then fell back by her side. "It's twenty to twelve, what's wrong?"

"Shit, sorry I didn't mean to wake you up." Lara felt the queasy mix of nervousness begin to mix with guilt in her abdomen and hurriedly went on to explain why she was there. "Errr basically, I need to ask you a huge favour and I would have asked someone else but you were the only one I could ask really at such short notice. So yeah, I would really appreciate it if you could pretend to be my date tomorrow night for a double date with Seven and the Captain because Seven wants us to help keep the conversation satisfactorily date-like." Lara stopped to take a breath flicking her emerald eyes up to Beths' hazel ones to gauge her reaction. Her friend looked confused for a few moments, waiting for the rapid sentences to penetrate the fog of her sleep-addled brain. When they did she smiled and put her hand on Laras' arm.

"Of course I will but if you wake me up again for anything but an extremely good reason I will break your legs." Relief coursed through Ensign Green at Beths' answer and she grinned.

"Deal."

"Goodnight Lara" Beth said as she went back into her quarters the doors closing after her.

"Goodnight." Lara whispered to the doors allowing herself to grin like an idiot for a few more moments before turning to go back to her own quarters. As she walked away she tried and failed to both suppress her excitement over her fake date and pretend that she couldn't feel a tingle emanating from a certain spot on her right bicep. She also failed to stop her brain from pointing out how cute Beth looked when she was sleepy.

* * *

The door chime startled Captain Janeway momentarily, which of course she would never have admitted to even if there had been someone there to witness her jump slightly. She rose from her desk chair and opened the door. A smile brighter than Indiana summers appeared spontaneously at the sight of the voluptuous blonde at her door.

"Seven." Her deep voice uttered in sultry tones. It was a mere stating of her name not an undying love declaration but it still made Sevens stomach flip. She smiled back mimicking the Captain by stating her name in a voice made playfully deep. Kathryn had to admit it had sounded nice, regardless of whether Seven meant it as a joke or not. She watched Sevens form, clad in her blue biosuit, as she entered the ready room settling herself on the sofa. She motioned for her lover to join her.

The Captain acquiesced quickly, sitting down next to the blonde.

"How are you?" Kathryn asked, concern filling her voice as her dark blue eyes skimmed over the Borgs' body, unable to stop herself from trying to detect signs of the young womans ordeal on the Sienn homeworld.

"I am well Captain." Seven replied with her usual abrupt manner.

"Can I get you anything?" The Captain asked as she got up to retrieve her still piping hot black coffee from her desk. Was this her seventh or eighth of the day? She wondered absent-mindedly realising she couldn't remember.

"It is strange how I am constantly being offered refreshments when I enter the private areas of members of the crew. It is almost as if people think an Ex-Borg cannot feed herself or maintain an adequate level of hydration." Sevens head was cocked slightly to the left as she awaited the Captains reply, the faint flicker of an amused smile playing with the edges of her ruby red mouth.

"Private areas?" Came the deep reply with the raising of a dark eyebrow.

"When I was in Ensigns Greens quarters earlier, she too offered to get me food or a beverage should I desire one." The amused smile grew bigger. "Is it that I can't be trusted to keep myself sufficiently well nourished?"

Kathryn Janeway couldn't help it. Half of the voices in her head urged her to throw the coffee she was cradling in her hands across the room, pin Seven back into the sofa, rip off that biosuit and feast upon her perfect body for being so adorable and the other half were screaming at her to ask why the hell she was in Ensign Greens quarters this evening. The jealously left a bitter taste in her mouth as she felt it win.

"Why were you in Ensign Greens quarters?" she asked in a deliberately slow voice. Trying not to let Seven in on how insecure she was feeling. Her hands fidgeted in her lap as she waited for an answer with baited breath. Sevens acute vision did not miss the nervous gesture and although her body-language reading skills were of a somewhat limited range she knew this wasn't a good sign.

"I was merely asking her advice on a certain matter," There was a pause and Seven tilted her head inquisitively as she surveyed the Captain, "Is something wrong?" The older woman let out a shaky breath of relief and slowly shook her head.

"I'm sorry Seven, I guess that I am still a little insecure about us. In the back of my mind I'm always thinking that I'm too old for you and that you should be with someone closer to your own age like Ensign Green. So I panic when I find out you have been with her. It's pathetic and I'm sorry for doubting you momentarily; I'll find a way to deal with it."

Seven took the older womans hands in her own and peered into deep blue eyes. "Captain, I am not very good at saying things that make people feel better but Ensign Green has reassured me that the emotional impact of words can make up for poor expression of them." The young ex-drone stopped as if struggling briefly to manufacture sentences then continued. "I love you Kathryn and I owe my survival to you. My desire to get back to you was what made me so determined to get off the Sienn homeworld but I wouldn't have managed it if you had not come back for me. We are a team and I don't want to be without you which is why I'm here to invite you to be my date for a double date with Ensign Green and Beth Porter. I want us to begin anew and be together properly. Do you accept my invitation Captain?"

Captain Janeway smiled warmly at Sevens words. "I think you are better at expressing yourself than you think." She whispered as she pulled Sevens face to hers as their lips met in a short sweet kiss. "I accept…wait Beth Porter? I didn't think she was a lesbian."

"She is not." Seven stated matter of factly, "But she is in love with Ensign Green and has been since their academy days she just never admitted it. Lara is my friend and I want her to be happy so I convinced her to come to a double date knowing she would most likely bring Beth. Then maybe this will give Beth the excuse she needs to admit her feelings." The Captain had to admit she was impressed at her girlfriends deviousness though really she shouldn't have expected any less from an ex-borg drone.

"Well darling I hope your plan works out but right now I have a free ten minutes and know how I want to spend them." The older woman pushed Seven back on the sofa a mischievous smile curling at the corners of her lips. Seven complied quickly pulling her Captains face close to her own as a small moan escaped her lips. Seven basked in the happy feeling coursing through her as her Captains lips moved lower on her neck and decided she definitely preferred humanity to her borg past.

* * *

**Please review if you have the time :) hope you are enjoying the story, I aim to finally finish this soon :) xsjx**


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